State Shoots 8 Escaped Elk Near Yellowstone

IDAHO

State game officers shot and killed eight elk that they said had escaped from a private hunting reserve and posed a threat to the genetic purity of wild herds roaming near Yellowstone National Park on the Idaho-Wyoming border.

The five cow and three young elk were the first game-farm elk killed under an emergency order issued Thursday by Idaho Gov. Jim Risch, authorizing state agents to destroy the estimated 75 to 160 farm-raised elk.

Tissue and blood samples from the eight were being analyzed to determine if the animals carried any communicable diseases or were genetic hybrids. Idaho Fish and Game Department Director Steve Huffaker said he had heard reports that some of the elk may have been crossbred with red deer in an effort to grow larger antlers.