Wisconsin’s newest elk herd is now at home. The state of Kentucky has supplied 150 elk to Wisconsin, where efforts to reintroduce the animal have been underway for two decades, with a herd in northern Wisconsin. “This new reintroduction effort will continue to focus on that Clam Lake herd, but is also starting a second herd in Jackson County near Black River Falls,” said Kevin Wallenfang with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

“It’s good area. It’s got good habitat for elk and we think that they’re going to do really well out there,” Wallenfang said. “Now the fun part begins.”

The 75 elk will be closely monitored to determine how they’re doing in their new home. “It’s a multiple year project. Long term, the goal is to have about 400 elk in Jackson County,” Wallenfang said. Elk were hunted out in Wisconsin by the 1940s. The first group was introduced in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in 1995, using animals provided by the state of Michigan.