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Number of vehicle-elk collisions increase in last year
5 January 2002
By Roger Alford, Associated Press
PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- Randy Combs was rounding a curve on a rural highway near Carr Fork Lake when he saw three elk standing on the pavement.
Instinctively, the Kentucky State Police trooper hit the brakes on that August night but couldn't stop in time to keep from plowing into one of the animals, crumpling the front end of his cruiser and becoming one of about 30 people to collide with the big animals since they were reintroduced into Kentucky.
"It was foggy and dark, and I had nowhere to go," Combs said. "I couldn't avoid the collision."
Such mishaps are occurring more frequently in Kentucky's mountain region.
The number of vehicle-elk collisions rose sharply over the past year in eastern Kentucky where about 1,300 of the animals now live, said Jon Gassett, head of the elk restoration effort for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. Out of all the elk killed on Kentucky roads since the animals were first reintroduced in 1997, 22 were struck between the 2000 and 2001 calving seasons.
In previous years, Gassett said, the number of collisions had been averaging two to three. He said no one has been injured in the collisions.
"This is not a unique problem," said Stephanie Faul, spokeswoman for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety in Washington. "Anywhere you have large animals that cross the road at night, you're going to have a lot of collisions."
Since elk roam freely, Faul said drivers need to take the initiative to slow down and be vigilant for the animals.
Wildlife managers began reintroducing elk to Kentucky in 1997 in 14 counties in the state's Appalachian region. Most of the animals were shipped from Utah, Arizona, Oregon, North Dakota and Kansas. The state plans to release an additional 350 to 400 elk in the region this year.
Kentucky's herd is expected to grow to about 7,400 over the next decade. Mature bulls can weigh up to 800 pounds. Cow elk average about 450 pounds, about the twice the size of a mature deer.
"We try to release them in areas where there are as few roads as possible," Gassett said. "We try to haze them out of highly traveled areas."
Residents, including some insurance agents, are protective of the elk in Kentucky, where over-hunting had pushed the animals into extinction in Kentucky more than 150 years ago.
"Elk should be here," said Mike Fannin, a Farm Bureau Insurance agent in Hindman. "We can spin tourism opportunities off them. I think they will be a big benefit for the region."
Officials in Virginia don't share that view. Along that state's border with Kentucky, hunters have been given permission to shoot elk during deer seasons. Charlie Sledd, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, said the state simply doesn't have appropriate habitat for the animals.
Sledd said worries that the elk might introduce disease to the deer population, coupled with worries about agricultural damage and highway collisions, prompted the state to allow hunters to shoot elk that wander across the state line.
"Certainly, vehicle-elk collisions was a part of that decision," he said.
5 January 2002
By Roger Alford, Associated Press
PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- Randy Combs was rounding a curve on a rural highway near Carr Fork Lake when he saw three elk standing on the pavement.
Instinctively, the Kentucky State Police trooper hit the brakes on that August night but couldn't stop in time to keep from plowing into one of the animals, crumpling the front end of his cruiser and becoming one of about 30 people to collide with the big animals since they were reintroduced into Kentucky.
"It was foggy and dark, and I had nowhere to go," Combs said. "I couldn't avoid the collision."
Such mishaps are occurring more frequently in Kentucky's mountain region.
The number of vehicle-elk collisions rose sharply over the past year in eastern Kentucky where about 1,300 of the animals now live, said Jon Gassett, head of the elk restoration effort for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. Out of all the elk killed on Kentucky roads since the animals were first reintroduced in 1997, 22 were struck between the 2000 and 2001 calving seasons.
In previous years, Gassett said, the number of collisions had been averaging two to three. He said no one has been injured in the collisions.
"This is not a unique problem," said Stephanie Faul, spokeswoman for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety in Washington. "Anywhere you have large animals that cross the road at night, you're going to have a lot of collisions."
Since elk roam freely, Faul said drivers need to take the initiative to slow down and be vigilant for the animals.
Wildlife managers began reintroducing elk to Kentucky in 1997 in 14 counties in the state's Appalachian region. Most of the animals were shipped from Utah, Arizona, Oregon, North Dakota and Kansas. The state plans to release an additional 350 to 400 elk in the region this year.
Kentucky's herd is expected to grow to about 7,400 over the next decade. Mature bulls can weigh up to 800 pounds. Cow elk average about 450 pounds, about the twice the size of a mature deer.
"We try to release them in areas where there are as few roads as possible," Gassett said. "We try to haze them out of highly traveled areas."
Residents, including some insurance agents, are protective of the elk in Kentucky, where over-hunting had pushed the animals into extinction in Kentucky more than 150 years ago.
"Elk should be here," said Mike Fannin, a Farm Bureau Insurance agent in Hindman. "We can spin tourism opportunities off them. I think they will be a big benefit for the region."
Officials in Virginia don't share that view. Along that state's border with Kentucky, hunters have been given permission to shoot elk during deer seasons. Charlie Sledd, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, said the state simply doesn't have appropriate habitat for the animals.
Sledd said worries that the elk might introduce disease to the deer population, coupled with worries about agricultural damage and highway collisions, prompted the state to allow hunters to shoot elk that wander across the state line.
"Certainly, vehicle-elk collisions was a part of that decision," he said.
