One of two elk that wandered into Illinois hit by semi – Outdoor News
Chicago — After trekking hundreds of miles across Wisconsin and into Illinois, a male elk died after it was struck by a semi-truck southwest of Chicago.
The bull elk was four years old and part of the Black River Falls elk herd. He was spotted far from his home range in recent months, his movements captured by trail cameras and onlookers as he traveled in search of a new mate.
A second elk spotted nearly 300 miles away near Coulterville in southern Illinois and later at Sangchris Lake – nearly 120 miles away – held the spotlight in mid-November. It is believed that elk might have escaped captivity.
Illinois DNR suspected it may have been brought in from Missouri or another neighboring state, and the individual who purchased it for livestock couldn’t adequately contain the animal, leading to its escape.
The elk killed near Chicago was a wild elk, authorities said.
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In September, the Wisconsin DNR started to get reports of the wild elk turning up in unusual places through the agency’s online wildlife reporting database. Christina Kizewski, a wildlife biologist with the Wisconsin DNR, said at that time, the elk was spotted near Wausau. He then traveled to Taylor County, Wisconsin and was seen in Wisconsin Rapids.
In November, the elk was captured on video running on a street in McFarland, Wisconsin.
“That really sparked the public’s interest, and we got a lot of additional reports after that,” Kizewski said.
In recent weeks, the elk traveled southwest from the Madison area and entered Illinois, where it attracted much attention.
Illinois has not had a wild elk population since the mid-1800s.
“This type of movement was slightly unusual,” Kizewski said. “That being said, we do receive a handful of reports every fall of these kinds of transient bulls – typically they’re less dominant, maybe younger bulls that haven’t quite staked their claim to breeding rights, to the cows in the associated herd.”
Kizewski said the elk was spotted in Illinois days before the start of the firearms deer hunting season. She said the Illinois DNR shared reports with the Wisconsin DNR around that time, and they said the elk was traveling to the southeast.
On Dec. 13, the elk was hit and killed on the southbound side of Interstate 55 near the intersection with I-80 in Joliet, according to Illinois State Police.
“He traveled many, many miles, and perhaps we figured that this would be the demise of this particular elk, just by the frequency of him traveling roadways, and especially major roadways,” Kizewski said.
The Wisconsin DNR tagged the elk Number 357 as a calf. Kizewski said he was likely around 400 to 700 pounds. An adult elk can also grow to be
5 feet tall.
The fall is “peak breeding time” for elk, Kizewski said. But she also wasn’t exactly sure where this elk was looking for love.
“He’s kind of a wild bull looking for a mate, so he obviously attempted a lot of different areas and was searching for a new one,” Kizewski said.
Around 515 elk live in Wisconsin, in two different herds. They were reintroduced in Wisconsin in 1995. One of the two main herds is located in the Black River Falls area in Jackson County and the other, the Clam Lake elk herd, is located near the Flambeau State Forest in the northern part of the state.
Bull elks typically live to be 12 to 17 years old, while cow elk, or female elk, live to be around 14 to 18 years old.
Source: https://www.outdoornews.com/2023/12/22/one-of-two-elk-that-wandered-into-illinois-hit-by-semi/
