Collapsed hay stack kills 16 elk
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK)-Sixteen elk were killed when a hay stack collapsed on them at the Tex Creek Wildlife Management Area (WMA) this winter.
A passerby reported finding the remains of the elk this spring.
Conservation officers said the elk apparently broke through a high fence protecting the Fish and Game stack yard. They ate out the bottom of the hay stack, which de-stabilized it and caused it to collapse.
It appears the elk were either crushed by the fallong one-ton bales or trampled to death by other elk.
The hay was stored there in 2016 to help feed 3,500 elk wintering on the Tex Creek WMA.
Fish and Game said the agency would clean up and remove the remaining hay and fencing this year. The carcasses of the elk have been moved off-site and left for scavengers.
