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“They are normally migrating to better forage … they tend to follow vegetation patterns,” he said.

Herd migration is affected when humans disrupt the natural environment. For elk, it’s attractive to stay near towns such as Banff and Jasper so that they can avoid predators.

“They could access forage in Jasper, eat grain off the railway track,” Found said. “The question really is: Why aren’t they all abandoning migration?”

Photo by Rob Found / Supplied

Hoof preference, or lack thereof, may help to answer that question. Lateralized elk, those which favour one limb, were three times more likely to migrate than their counterparts. Found also measured other behaviours such as the tendency for elk to lope away at the sight of trouble.

“An animal with behavioural flexibility would be more inclined to have a lower flight response the second time (we presented a stimulus),” he said.

Alberta is home to healthy elk populations, but Found said his research may have implications for other ungulates, such as at-risk caribou herds.

“They don’t adapt to human behaviour,” he said. “Is there a way we could help (using) some of the things we’ve learned with individual behaviour?”

Found noted that breeding programs might make it possible to select certain behaviours in ungulates. He added that a herd might benefit from a mix of laterality, ensuring both bold and shy individuals.

Elk are far more individual than many people understand, he added.

“My model organism for elk was humans,” he said. “Humans are also a social species, but we still have a great diversity in personality types.”

cclancy@postmedia.com

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