#6, who lost his antlers to the Park Service for attacking cars and tourists, tripped over a fence and suffocated.
Famous elk found dead just north of Yellowstone.
AP Seattle Post Intelligencer.
Ken Cole
Ken Cole is a 5th generation Idahoan, an avid fly fisherman, wildlife enthusiast, and photographer. He is the interim Idaho Director for Western Watersheds Project. We do not accept unsolicited “guest” authors or advertising.
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Obviously wolves are somehow responsble for this, but the left wing media is engaged in a massive cover-up. 🙂
davej: You betcha!
… Just imagine if a wolf had been guilty of the human harassment, intimidation and physical harm to homo sapiens limb and property — that the elk was guilty of … Wildlife Services would have killed half the experimental non-essential population across 3 states – just for revenge/to teach ’em a lesson..
… And why don’t we just say “Fence kills magnificent elk”. What kind of fence was it? Cruel, cruel Bob wire? Haystack-type paneling?
Here is a more in depth article. http://www.idahostatesman.com/531/story/665155.html
The NPS press release actually used the word “infamous” to describe the elk; mainstream media has tended to drop the negative connotation. The fence, perhaps, should be “infamous,” but didn’t Robert Frost once say that “good fences make good neighbors”? I had thought Frost was being sarcastic, but he wasn’t. And, that’s America.
The lawns at Mammoth, the flower pots, the endless parade of tourists, the fences … and it’s the elk that’s “infamous” according to NPS?
http://www.nps.gov/yell/parknews/09007.htm
I had seen that elk before; I’m very sad to here that he has come to this end.
What a shame this great beast died from a fence. What is a fence doing on the border of Yellowstone? Or was it even outside the park?
i sent a couple of shots of him to Ralph by email,,if anyone is interested, he was a fine animal, perfectly symetrical rack, real boxy, square type, and he seemed to really like to bugle when the occasion callled for it
Wow Mike…
That’s the way to win them over….rah, rah, go team!
humpf!
So the elk died behind this Super 8 Motel:
http://www.gardinerchamber.com/bizpics/img465.jpg
On Art Eisele’s tall wire fence.
Ugh.
Have spent many fall seasons in Yellowstone, and loved to hear him bugling in the early, dark AM’s in Mammoth. He was a magnificent animal. Gave me goose bumps to watch and listen to him. What a shame!
” And why don’t we just say “Fence kills magnificent elk”
By the same token maybe we should just say “Fall kills large bull”. The fence didn’t kill him, the fall and his antlers did. He could just as well have tripped on a branch or a rock.
It’s a shame he died in this way. I wish very much that it wouldn’t have happened.
Would the sentiment here be quite different if he would have been killed by a pack of wolves?? Should we then have heard “Magnificent bull killed by a wolf pack”??
Good one Layton. I’m sure lots of great bulls are killed by the wolves. Friends of mine have pictures to prove it.
Of course the two cases are different … one is due to the arbitrarily enforced value systems of humanity; the other simply follows the natural inclinations of any animal. It’s not that the magnificent elk died; it’s for the value system that it died.
In both cases, there is something to be sad about. We have to be humble in the face of any action we take in this world. However, the case of this elk is sadder still because it reminds us of what we and what our world has become (I say as I type this over a wireless connection to people whose faces I cannot see, whose being I cannot touch.) We all trip on the fence and stumble, and this is how we die. Is this any way to live? That elk lived an entire life essentially domesticated within the national park and died a domestic life. And, that’s the extra sad thing.
Jim,
I think you have made a good point. I hate to start the elk farm thing again, but, we have about three elk farms within 50 miles of my home and although I’m a hunter it just seems wrong to see these great animals bulls and cows behind a fence, they never look as healthy as the wild elk. Their coats are usually dull and almost mangeing looking compared to the wild elk whose coats are shiny and sleek, especially in the spring and early summer.
Go to the new Yellowstone Country Guardians site and read their Field Journal entry “End of an Aera”, in memoriam #6. What a fine tribute to a glorious animal!
I would love to see pictures of #6 in his prime. In the articles i’ve read they say he was at an age where he was starting to deminish. Anyone have anything they can send me? capsonusa@hotmail.com
Mike Capson
Yellowstone.net is always a great source for pics (thus they are still in progress of rebuilding after that recent major server crash). A picture tribute to #6 can be found on:
http://forums.yellowstone.net//viewtopic.php?f=7&t=359