Life Sciences Commons^™

Reducing Reliance On Supplemental Winter Feeding In Elk (Cervus Canadensis): An Applied Management Experiment At Deseret Land And Livestock Ranch, Utah, Dax L. Mangus

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Wildlife managers have fed elk in North America for nearly 100 years. Giving winter feed to elk can compensate for a shortage of natural winter range and may boost elk populations while also helping prevent commingling with livestock and depredation of winter feed intended for livestock. In contrast to these benefits of supplemental feeding, there are economic and environmental costs associated with feeding, and elk herds that winter on feeding grounds have a higher risk of contracting and transmitting disease. Brucellosis is of primary concern now, and Chronic Wasting Disease may be in the future. Many see the discontinuation of …

Density And Feeding Habits Of Elk And Deer In Relation To Livestock Disturbance, Kenneth Clegg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Elk (Cervus elaphus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) density and foraging behavior were monitored in conjunction with disturbance by livestock (cattle and sheep) from 1991 to 1993 at Deseret Land and Livestock property near Woodruff, Utah. Elk and deer densities declined by as much as 92% in response to introduction of livestock, while associated areas where livestock were absent did not show this response. Biting rates and bite sizes were estimated and used to determine instantaneous intake rate. These measures were similar between pastures with cattle present or absent in 1992 but differed in 1993 for …

Reproduction And Hematology Of The Cache Elk Herd, Thomas B. Follis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The initial three years of a 10-year reproductive study of elk involved three major phases. A fourth was added because of convenience. Objective 1 was to ascertain pregnancy rates in yearling and mature elk by rectal palpation, associate these rates with subsequent fall cow/calf ratios, and to test concurrently an ultrasonic fetal heart detector. Rectally observed anatomical changes in gravid uteri of cattle were directly applicable to elk. Ultrasonic detections of pregnancies in elk and deer were unsuccessful.

Pregnancy rates in the 1969-70 winter of 100 and 0 percent, respectively, for 19 adult and five yearling elk were associated with …