Wind Cave National Park Sends Elk Herd To Neighboring Custer State Park

Nearly 400 elk recently were moved out of Wind Cave National Park and into neighboring Custer State Park. NPS photo.

Airborne cowboys have herded hundreds of elk from Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota into neigboring Custer State Park under a plan to reduce the elk population in the national park while boosting it in the state park.

Nearly 400 elk were moved out of the national park and into the state park by helicopter crews chartered by the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department (GFP) and paid for with funding from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. They spent two days rounding up and pushing elk north across the parks’ shared boundary. Sections of fence that normally restrict animal movement between the parks had been lowered or had drop-down gates installed to facilitate this transfer.

“This is just another example of the strong partnership we have with Custer State Park, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation,” said Wind Cave Superintendent Vidal Davila. “Twenty-seven of the 391 animals transferred were wearing tracking collars that will allow us to monitor their movements and gauge the success of the operation.”

The parks signed a Memorandum of Understanding last spring that benefits both parks by allowing managers the tools needed to adaptively manage their respective elk populations.

“This successful elk transfer demonstrates that when government entities work together cooperatively, good things result,” said GFP Secretary Jeff Vonk. “This effort is a win-win for both parks by helping both entities achieve their management objectives.”

Wind Cave’s Elk Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, completed in 2009, calls for an elk population of 232 to 475. Leading up to the elk transfer, there were an estimated 950 elk in the national park this winter.