The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and our members are concerned about and work for all wildlife resources. One of our nation’s greatest wildlife resources, the elk in and around Yellowstone National Park (YNP), is of particular concern. RMEF members, hunters, and state and federal agencies have worked tirelessly to restore and sustain the elk herds around YNP for almost 100 years. In the last two decades, alarming trends have been identified in the YNP elk herds, particularly the Northern Yellowstone elk herd; a trend that should be alarming to all Americans who enjoy this amazing wildlife resource.
In spite of the remarkable conservation efforts of hunters, state agencies, RMEF, and our partners, elk numbers have continued to decline since 1995. Historical fluctuations over the previous 75 years were temporary and lasting only a few years before a rebound to historic levels. YNP elk are currently in a long-term decline, spanning almost two decades.
We can no longer ignore the peril of the Yellowstone elk. The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, both within and outside the park, is as complex as it is amazing. This system will not sustain by focusing only on one or two species, but must focus on all species, all wildlife, and the complex habitats needed by these animals.
It is unfortunate that the one species most used as the food source for all YNP predators, elk, has been forgotten and neglected as other higher profile species garner all the attention in the Yellowstone area. No longer can elk afford to pay the price for management strategies that focus on one or two predator species, at the expense of all other prey species such as elk, moose, deer, and bighorn sheep.
As much as some want to discount all of the conservation work hunters have done around YNP, RMEF believes it is necessary to provide the true and indisputable facts related to this issue. Some of these facts are not popular and are not what some groups and organizations want presented.
RMEF has always supported science based on facts and results. The facts and results of the past twenty years are alarming to us and we continue to ask all Americans to seek information for themselves, helping them become advocates for this once abundant and now declining wildlife wonder – the elk of the Northern Herd.
Please read the facts provided below:
Elk Populations in the Northern Yellowstone Elk Herd
Year Elk Population*
1994 19,045 (year before wolf reintroduction)
1995 16,791 (reintroduction began)
1996 no count taken
1997 no count taken
1998 11,742
1999 14,538 (prior to late season elk hunt)
2000 13, 400 (prior to late season elk hunt)
2001 11,969
2002-03 9,215
2004 8,335
2005 9,545
2006 6,588
2007 6,738
2008 6,279
2009 6,070
2010 4,635
2011 4,174
2012 3,915
(*via U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)