44 



CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 



8. Essential that plan of liberation be conducive to the in<lt'i)en(lent 

 existence of the herd. (Owens Valley seems ideal in this respect for an 

 abundant stretch of moist river bottom land. GO miles or more in length, with 

 an abundance of willows, tiiles. rushes, grasses, mud lakes and water, such 

 as is considered excellent Tule Elk habitat, exists there. Temperature extremes 

 in Owens Valley are comparalile witli those of the Upper San .Toa<iuin Valley 

 wliere Tub> Elk once abounded. Althoufih the elevation is greater tiiaii in the 

 San .Ioa(iuin Valley, snows that remain on the ground occur only wilii llie 

 greatest rarity in Owens Valley. Nature has fenced the valley to preclude 

 the animals' escape from it, for if the elk attempt to leave the river marshes, 

 high mountains or hostile deserts hem them in on all sides. The.se factors 

 .seem to meet this requirement.) 



Wripht closed his report with tlie foilowing- reeommeiuhitious 

 regarding the elk transfer. First, that it is his opinion that the 

 animals would prosper in Owens Valley. Second, that the transfer be 



Fig. 9. Bull elk after dehorning. After their horns were removed, they quieted 

 down, showing little interest in each other. 



made in Ictte fall, after the rutting season wlieu the bull's horns could 

 be sawed aff to prevent their injuring tliemselves in transit, when tlie 

 calves would be large and strong enough to stand the trip and when 

 the cows Avould already be impregnated to.insm-e securing a calf crop 

 the following spring. 



Director of the National Park Service H. M. All)righl on .June 20. 

 1933, approved AVright's recommendations and authorized the transfer 

 provided that each requirement was md bcfoi-c making the shipnicnt. 

 Accordingly, Supt. Thomson addressed the agencies whose approval 

 was required, requesting that same be granted. 



Dr. C. E. Grunsky, President and Acting Director of the California 

 Academy of Sciences, provided Supt. Thomson with that institution's 

 approval of the transfer on September 15, 1033, but expressed some 

 reluctance over it for the reason of M. Hall ^ilcAllister's opinion in 



