40 



BULLETIN 1049, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



These transfers began in 1910, 16 and for the first two years were 

 merely on an experimental basis. Beginning in 1912, several 

 hundred elk were shipped each year under Federal and State 

 auspices, and the total number distributed during the last 12 years 

 has been about 4,000. Methods of capture and transportation have 

 been greatly improved and costs of transportation reduced, and the 

 losses have been comparatively small, probably not more than 10 

 per cent. In some cases elk have been transferred from the Yellow- 

 stone Park to Eastern States without any loss en route. The 

 greater number of the animals were obtained from the northern 

 herd in the Yellowstone Park and shipped from Gardiner, Mont. A 

 smaller number were captured in Jackson Hole, transported over 

 the Teton Pass on sleds to the railroad at Victor, Idaho, and thence 



IZZZ2 States receiv incj 

 shipments o-F elk 

 % Points of shipment 



Fig. 4.— Elk shipments for restocking purposes. Spots indicate points of shipment; shaded areas, th« 

 States receiving elk; and figures, the total number of elk received by the States and Canada. 



shipped to their destination. Shipments thus far made to 25 States 

 and Canada (see map, fig. 4) may be roughly divided into five 

 groups: (a) From the Yellowstone National Park to other States: 

 (h) from the park or near-by points in Montana to other sections in 

 the State; (c) from Jackson Hole, Wyo., to other points in the 

 State; (d) from Jackson Hole, Wyo., to other States; and (e) from 

 Buttonwillow, Calif., to other points in the State. 



As a rule these elk have done well in their new locations; already 

 a number of new herds have been well established, and in the course 

 of a few years they should increase to considerable proportions. As 

 might have been expected in transferring so many elk, some of the 

 locations selected have been ill-advised and complaints have been 



16 The first transfer was actually made in 1905, when a small herd of valley elk was 

 moved from Buttonwillow in the San Joaquin Valley, Calif., to the Sequoia National Park. 



