Yellowstone Elk Has Learned How To Avoid Wolves and Mountain Lions

Above, elk gathering in a defensive group circle in Grand Teton National Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It is interesting that the following article appeared in the National Parks Traveler following my trip to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.

It is about how Yellowstone elk have learned how to avoid mountain lions and wolves.

One defense we saw came in Grand Teton National Park. A herd of elk gathered into a giant group circle with their young at the center. A bear was in the vicinity. We watched the gathering of elk from a rise about a half mile away.

The article is an interesting one. It begins with:

Viewed as prey by both wolves and mountain lions, elk in Yellowstone National Park have figured out how best to avoid those predators, according to a new study. 

While the elk aren't always successful, the ability of many elk to dodge the predators on a daily basis explains why elk, mountain lions, and wolves all are "thriving on the Yellowstone landscape," said Dan Stahler, a Yellowstone biologist who participated in the research. 

According to the just-released study, mountain lions prefer to hunt at night in forested areas, whereas wolves usually hunt in the morning and early evening hours on flat, grassy areas of the park's Northern Range.  

"Elk sidestepped both cougars and wolves by selecting for areas outside these high-risk domains, namely forested, rugged areas during daylight when cougars were resting, and grassy, flat areas at night when wolves were snoozing," explained Michel Kohl, the research paper's lead author who now is an assistant professor at the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia in Athens.

To read more, go here.