USFWS Depredation study

 

     This is a picture of the remains of a wolf-killed adult female elk.  We know if was an adult from the jawbone, which we found nearby, and we know it was a female from the skull which had no antlers.  We also know it was very likely killed by wolves because the adults in this pack have GPS radio collars, and the pack spent several hours at this location.

     Notice the barbed wire fence in the background.  The wolves know that elk are afraid to jump the fence because they might break a limb.  I think that the wolves run the elk toward the fence, and when the elk reach it, they panic.  This gives the wolves an opportunity.

    The bone marrow from this animal was whitish-pink, which indicates that the animal was probably healthy.  Pink or gelatinous bone marrow would mean that the animal was unhealthy.  It was a very rare event to find healthy looking bone marrow in a wolf-killed elk carcass.  In fact, of all the carcasses that I know of, this is the only one that had healthy looking marrow.