Fish and Game officials: Elk die after being crushed by haystack
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (CBS2) -- More than a dozen elk died after being crushed by a haystack or trampled by other elk in eastern Idaho, according to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
Idaho Fish and Game officials received a report about the elk carcasses from a concerned citizen. The carcasses were discovered within a Fish and Game stack yard in the Indian Fork portion of Tex Creek Wildlife Management Area this spring.
Officials investigated and determined the elk had busted through a fence protecting the stack yard. The elk ate out of the bottom of the hay stack, causing it to collapse.
Fish and Game said 16 of the animals died after being crushed by the one-ton bales or trampled by other elk.
The stack yard contained hay from an emergency feeding operation conducted by Fish and Game in 2016. Staff plan to clean up and remove the remaining hay and fencing around the stack yard this summer.
The elk carcasses have been moved off site and left for scavengers, according to Fish and Game officials.
