Donation Funds Elk Collars

Safari Club International Foundation recently donated $10,000 towards research on elk that winter in the Gros Ventre drainage north of Jackson.  The funds were used to purchase five store-on-board Global Positioning System collars, augmenting five additional GPS collars funded by the Game and Fish Department and U.S. Geological Survey for the ongoing study.  Habitat Biologist John Henningsen says the donation goes a long way to help understand local elk movement and utilization of habitat.  Henningsen explains that the ten elk have now received a small VHF collar which will help wildlife managers document elk movements and mortality. The information is sampled every half hour which will be downloaded onto maps when the collars drop off at the end of one year.  This effort will provide data on seasonal movements, winter site fidelity, and help focus the application of future habitat treatments.