Twenty-six elk were transferred from Kentucky to Wisconsin on Thursday, the first shipment in a multi-year effort to increase the population of the native animal in the Badger State. Credit: Associated Press

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Twenty-six elk were transferred from Kentucky to Wisconsin on Thursday, the first shipment in a multi-year effort to increase the population of the native animal in the Badger State.

The elk were released into a holding pen in Jackson County where they will stay for at least the next 75 days. The holding period is designed to let the animals acclimatize and complete a quarantine required by animal health officials.

"Everything has gone as well as we could have expected," said Kevin Wallenfang, big game ecologist with the Department of Natural Resources. "They trotted out of the trailers and are doing great."

The transfer is part of the DNR's effort to add more animals as well as increase genetic diversity to the state's wild elk herd. Prior to Thursday, the state had about 160 elk near Clam Lake, the result of transfer of 25 elk from Michigan in 1995.

Earlier this year Wisconsin entered into a five-year agreement with Kentucky to provide a maximum of 150 elk. The elk will be split between northern Wisconsin and the newly established elk range in Jackson County.

The project is being funded by donations from groups including the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (a minimum of $300,000), the Ho-Chunk Nation ($150,000) and Jackson County Wildlife Fund ($50,000). The department has committed to using only funds received from partner organizations.

All of the elk from the 2015 transfer were used to establish the Jackson County herd.

"The Ho-Chunk Nation is beyond excited to see the return of elk to Jackson County," said tribal spokesman Collin Price. "The elk is culturally significant to us and having these animals back to their homeland is special."

The elk were trapped in Kentucky beginning in January. They underwent tests and completed the first part of the quarantine in Kentucky. The animals were put in two trailers on Wednesday and driven overnight to Wisconsin, Wallenfang said. The trip took about 14 hours.

Tami Ryan, DNR wildlife health specialist, and Lindsey Long, DNR wildlife veterinarian, accompanied the caravan.

The elk include three yearling bulls, six adult cows, three yearling cows and 14 calves (about evenly split between males and females). Blood tests showed seven of the female elk were pregnant.

To help the elk get accustomed to their new home, they are being held in a seven-acre acclimation pen in the Black River State Forest near Black River Falls. The pen is surrounded by an eight-acre buffer zone and a fabric barrier.

The enclosure and barrier is to help ensure the health and welfare of the elk during quarantine and provide for biosecurity, according to the DNR. The combined 15-area will be closed to all unauthorized personnel while elk are held within the quarantine pen, and "no entry" signs will be posted in a 100-foot perimeter around the pen.

The DNR is providing food to the elk in the pen.

The public is asked to avoid the general vicinity of the closed area until the elk are released in early summer.

The DNR recently updated it elk management plan. It includes adding up to 75 elk to the existing Clam Lake herd with a long-term population goal of 1,400 elk; and bringing in up to 75 animals to establish a new elk herd in the Black River State Forest with a long-term population goal of 390 elk; allow for the assisted dispersal of elk to suitable habitat within the existing elk ranges; recognize the importance of quality habitat and the factors that correspond with reducing predator impacts; and increase the size of the current Clam Lake range to include more and better habitat.

Wallenfang said if everything continues to go as planned, the doors will be opened on the pen in early June and the elk will walk into the Black River State Forest, starting a new chapter in the Wisconsin elk reintroduction.

Trapping is expected to resume next winter in Kentucky for the second batch of elk. Elk transferred in 2016 will be released near Clam Lake, Wallenfang said.