SCelk.org Your South Carolina Link to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation

Had you been an immigrant to South Carolina in the 1600’s you would have found an abundance of elk here. Historians estimate that more than 10 million elk roamed North America in the 1600’s. With the exception of Florida & a few of the northeastern states elk were to be found throughout the US including SC.

Unfortunately for us our forefathers were not good conservationists. They were survivalists. Two things needed for survival are food & clothing and since elk provided both they were harvested without regards to seasons, sex of the animal killed, or the number of elk killed. With that approach elk numbers plummeted to less than 100,000 animals. Thusly, SC hasn’t had any elk since 1750 or more than 250 years.

Those elk that did survive did so only in isolated pockets deep within the Rocky Mountains.

By the late 1800’s a conservation movement began throughout the US. People had begun to realize that if they were to conserve these majestic animals they would require some protection.

One of the best things to happen for elk was the establishment of the National Park System. For with the National Parks came protection of their wildlife. With protection the elk began to propagate & reestablish themselves in their native western habitat. However there still were no elk on the eastern seaboard.

In 1984 four hunters/conservationists from Libby, Montana became deeply concerned about the increasing loss of prime elk habitat to development. It seemed that everyone wanted to purchase 5, 10, 15 acres of prime elk habitat, fence it in for horses & by doing so they inadvertently forced elk into less desirable habitat. Less desirable habitat equated to fewer elk. Their solution was to create the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) as a wildlife habitat conservation organization whose core mission is to protect elk, other wildlife & their habitat. Today elk numbers exceed 1 million animals & over 5.6 million acres of land have been protected/conserved/enhanced by the efforts of the RMEF.

Elk now roam in KY, TN, PA, AR, WI, MI & the Great Smokey Mountain National Park (GSMNP) ----places that hadn’t seen elk for 200 years.

The nearest elk herd to SC resides in the Cataloochee Valley of the GSMNP. The herd there now exceeds 100 animals, a critical number as it is known that more than 100 elk are needed for the herd to be sustainable & self perpetuating.

At this time there are no plans to import elk into SC as they have been in other states east of the Mississippi. The rational for this lies in problems associated with Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).

CWD is a disease primarily of whitetail deer----rarely is it found in elk. Nevertheless CWD conceivably could be brought into the state by the importation of elk---thus the moratorium against their importation. Until a safe & reliable test for CWD can be developed, that moratorium will likely remain in effect.

However, there should be no concern about allowing elk to migrate into SC from the GSMNP. The elk in the NC herd have been there for several incubation periods of CWD without any evidence of CWD being present. Additionally necropsies are preformed on all elk dying or killed by predation without any disease having been detected.

The GSMNP herd is a disease free herd---- one that can be welcomed to SC as they expand their home range.

Dr. Carl Walsh

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