Food Chain Radio Show #1259

Michael Olson, Author & Urban Farming Agriculturalist

Feeding Wildlife

Guest: Kristin Combs, Executive Director Wyoming Wildlife Advocates

The site of hungry wildlife weathering a freezing blizzard is enough to stir the emotions of every wildlife enthusiast. And yet, there are some wildlife enthusiasts who want the government to stop winter-feeding wildlife.

Case in point: the winter-feeding of the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem elk herd at Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Rather than allowing the 11,000 elk of the immediate area to fend for themselves in the wilds of the Teton Mountains, the elk are encouraged to come down to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife refuge bordering the tourist town of Jackson. There the elk are fed a mixture of hay and alfalpha pellets through the coldest months of winter.

This feeding-at-the-trough greatly concentrates the elk population. National Elk Refute Senior Biologist Eric Cole said, “During feeding operations, that is when the when elk are actively being fed, we commonly have elk in densities of 1,000 elk per square kilometer.”

The problem with this animal feeding charity is that the concentration it engenders, exacerbates the spread of disease. And for the first time, another disease has appeared among the Jackson Elk Herd that is 100% lethal – Chronic Wasting Disease. We came know these encephalopathy afflictions when they spread among cattle. We called them “Mad Cow Disease.”

Biologist Cole said, “Feeding by itself is definitely the strongest
predictor of elk contact rates.”

Wildlife disease specialist Chris Colligan said, “I think to do that (feeding) on elk feed grounds has a potential for disaster. Our economy and identity in western Wyoming is associated with elk populations. Just to do nothing in light of this discovery shouldn’t be an option.”

And so, a coalition of wildlife-loving groups has taken action by filing a law suite against government wildlife agencies to stop feeding the hungry animals. And that leads us to ask:

Leave a comment below: Should government stop winter feeding wildlife?

Tune in here, for the syndicated the Michael Olson Food Chain Radio Show #1259 January 16, 2021 Saturday 9AM Pacific