W.Va. Officials Use Technology to Track New Elk Herd

Biologists have put tracking collars on each of the 24 elk recently released in West Virginia.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the collars can be tracked by satellites using global positioning system transmitters while workers on the ground use radio transmitters to follow the elk’s progress.

The elk were relocated to West Virginia from Kentucky recently, the first time elk have roamed in West Virginia in 141 years. State officials are concerned some of the small herd might be killed by cars if they wander too far from the mountain tops.

Randy Kelley, the elk project leader for the state Department of Natural Resources, said the collars can be programmed to drop off the animals automatically. They can be reused later as the elk herd grows.