Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Elk Calf Survival And Mortality Following Wolf Restoration To Yellowstone National Park La Supervivencia Y La Mortalidad De Las Crı´As De Wapiti Tras La Restauracio´ N Del Lobo Al Parque Nacional De Yellowstone La Survie Et La Mortalite´ Des Faons De Wapitis Qui A Suivi La Re´Introduction Du Loup Au Parc De Yellowstone, S. M. Barber-Meyer, L. David Mech, P. J. White

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

We conducted a 3-year study (May 2003–Apr 2006) of mortality of northern Yellowstone elk (Cervus elaphus) calves to determine the cause for the recruitment decline (i.e., 33 calves to 13 calves/100 adult F) following the restoration of wolves (Canis lupus). We captured, fit with radiotransmitters, and evaluated blood characteristics and disease antibody seroprevalence in 151 calves ≤ 6 days old (68M:83F). Concentrations (x, SE) of potential condition indicators were as follows: thyroxine (T4; 13.8 µg/dL, 0.43), serum urea nitrogen (SUN; 17.4 mg/dL, 0.57), c-glutamyltransferase (GGT; 66.4 IU/L, 4.36), gamma globulins (GG; 1.5 g/dL, 0.07), and insulin-like …