Thanks to the Herald for shedding light on the decline of our local elk herds (“
As we attempt to solve the mystery, I think it is important to be comprehensive and discuss the effects of trophy hunting. For millennia, elk have co-evolved along with predators in very predictable ways. This predator/prey relationship has defined the nature of elk and the animals that preyed upon them.
Predators in this ancient relationship would naturally prey upon weak and vulnerable elk simply because it was easier. This behavior preserved healthy elk while culling the weak and vulnerable.
In Colorado, elk don’t have many natural predators anymore. Instead, they have us and we are proving to be a very different type of predator. Instead of hunting elk year-round, we compress our hunting in the fall. Instead of hunting for survival, we hunt for sport, and instead of hunting the weak and vulnerable, trophy hunters hunt the most dominate and healthy bull elk available while they mate.
This is a fundamentally different predator/prey relationship and I think it would be naive of us to assume that it hasn’t had an effect.
As we consider the mystery of elk decline, I think it makes sense to be comprehensive. I urge us to take a look at all aspects of our management and to consider the repercussions of trophy hunting.
Jon Westrup
Durango
