On the Elk Trail: Episode 2 - Elk Migration

In 2018, a biologist and a filmmaker used camera traps to film the entire fall migration of an elk herd in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem of western Wyoming. During the project’s first week a snowstorm hit, which prompted a large group migration. En route they displayed a variety of herd behaviors. 

 

If you have ever wondered why, when and how elk move—and what they do while they are on the move—you will find this piece insightful. 

 

NOTE: this post was originally published to this site on February 10, 2020.

CREDITS:

WYOMING MIGRATION INITIATIVE PRESENTS: IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE University of Wyoming AND Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation “ON THE ELK TRAIL: A WYOMING MIGRATION MINISERIES” BY GREGORY NICKERSON AND TRAVIS ZAFFARANO EDITORS: BEN KRAUSHAAR AND GREGORY NICKERSON ANIMATION AND CARTOGRAPHY: UNIVERSITY OF OREGON INFOGRAPHICS LAB Special thanks to the team who hiked and skied to check cameras: Greg Anderson, Biologist, Wyoming Game and Fish Department Sara Domek, National Bighorn Sheep Center Nick Dobric, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership Thanks for production and permitting support: Matthew Kauffman, Plum Schultz, Kimmie Takaki Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Joanna Merson, Alethea Steingisser, Jim Meacham, University of Oregon InfoGraphics Lab Elizabeth Traver, Andrew Parsekian, University of Wyoming WyCEHG Justin Hawkins, Anita Harper, Shoshone National Forest, Permit # WAP 546. Thank you to our funders: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Knobloch Family Foundation, and Wyoming Governor’s Big Game License Coalition.