Talk about a long, long walk. Researchers in northwest Colorado say a cow elk covered more than 250 miles and even crossed the Continental Divide before giving birth to a calf.
“This is a significant movement distance,” Kris Middledorf, Colorado Parks and Wildlife area wildlife manager, told the Steamboat Pilot & Today. “This is probably one of the few places in Colorado where you see that kind of movement. … It’s exceptional.”
Researchers were able to monitor the movement because the cow was outfitted with a GPS collar. Not only that but they followed the signal, found the calf and placed a collar on it as well which will allow them to monitor the calf’s possible migration back to winter range where the mother’s journey began.
(Photo & graphic source: Colorado Parks and Wildlife)