CUSTER, S.D. (AP) - Park officials used a pair of helicopters to drive about 200 elk from Wind Cave National Park into nearby Custer State Park, but one herd refused to budge.
GF&P regional wildlife manager John Kanta tells the Rapid City Journal that the east herd around Boland Ridge did not cooperate, and the elk might need more coaxing from another helicopter push next week.
The drive is aimed at reducing the elk herd in Wind Cave, which numbers 900 to 950 animals. Officials would like the herd cut in half based on available habitat in the park.
The helicopter crews from Alaska-based Quicksilver Air Inc. have been in the Black Hills since the middle of February assisting with an aerial survey of elk in the Black Hills.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
