Bears take a toll on this year's elk calves
CLAM LAKE — A record nine calves in Wisconsin's fledgling elk herd were killed by black bears this spring — and the losses involve whitetail deer and the weather.
The natural world does not always operate as expected.
"We figure there were 109 elk on hand prior to calving," said Laine Stowell, the Department of Natural Resources elk biologist who oversees the state's Clam Lake elk herd within 1,112 square miles of Sawyer, Price, Ashland and Bayfield counties.
"We estimated 35 calves were born. Of those, we found 23, and of those 23, six were lost to bears. Extrapolating those results, we estimate we lost nine calves total to bears."
Calves can be located because a majority of the cow elk has been radio-collared and newborn calves are fitted with transmitters that allow their movements to be followed.
During the 2006 calving season, four calves were killed by bears. Since elk were introduced to the Clam Lake area in 1995, the average calving loss to bears has been about two per year, Stowell said.
Elk and deer calves are exceptionally vulnerable to bear predation for about a two-week period after birth.
Elk calves are typically born earlier than deer fawns, though the birthing periods overlap.
Black bears coming out of hibernation in spring are primarily vegetarians but will switch to a protein diet as their mating season approaches in late June and early July. Whitetail deer are considerably more numerous than elk, and it is the appearance of fawns that trigger bears to actively search for newborns.
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