AĀ herd of 41 elk died Wednesday morning after falling through ice in east Oregon, according to wildlife officials.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a Wednesday Facebook post that the elk perished after falling through the ice on the Powder River.
āAfter several years of drought, Eastern Oregon is experiencing a real winter this year,ā wildlife officials said in the post. āThe extra moisture and snowpack will be good for wildlife and habitat in the long run, but conditions may be tough on critters this winter.ā
Wildlife officials received a call from a person who lives near the reservoir and witnessed the incident, Brian Ratliff, district wildlife biologist at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlifeās Baker City office told the Baker City Herald.
Ratliff said wildlife officials went to the river to see whether they could save any of the elk, but the conditions wereā¦
View original post 7 more words
My heart is with them!!! š„
LikeLiked by 1 person
The ice blocked them from swimming? Elk swim.
LikeLike
I just can’t get around suspicions that these elk were killed both for meat and for testing organs for Fukushima (or other) radiation since that sort of thing was done by government during weapons testing. Elk should instinctively know when the ice is and isn’t safe, unless maybe someone or something was chasing them. It would have to be species survival to deal with weak ice. They would have to know based on instinctive temperature judgement, not just season, as winters have long varied. And, I’m sure I’ve seen them swimming in broken ice in pictures or video. There weren’t many witnesses. A lot of hunters aren’t the brightest people around and probably wouldn’t know or care if the meat were radioactive. Hunting on the Savannah River Nuclear Site is very popular.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, some of the story just doesn’t make sense to me, they can swim but they probably were trying to step up onto the ice and couldn’t get out of the water. I would not put it past the dill weeds, chasing them with their all-terrain vehicles or snowmobiles!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Again! Idaho National Nuke Lab? A lot of rad waste on the snake river aquifer too.
“Thirty pronghorn die trying to cross frozen Idaho river
Posted:Tue, 17 Jan 2017 19:49:40 -0500
SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) – Thirty pronghorns, close cousins to antelope, died while crossing a frozen river in south central Idaho, in a very rare event for the sure-footed mammals, state wildlife managers said Tuesday.”
http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/environment/~3/lWtle6LjEx0/us-idaho-pronghorns-idUSKBN15203H
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s very sad news! Why would they all be on the ice at the same time unless somebody is chasing them out there and hold them out there until the ice breaks beneath them!! Thanks for the link!
LikeLiked by 1 person
pictures here plus more dead pronghorns: https://idfg.idaho.gov/press/pronghorn-deaths-blamed-japanese-yew
https://idfg.idaho.gov/press/thirty-antelope-die-when-large-herd-crosses-frozen-snake-river-lake-walcott
LikeLiked by 1 person