Minatare, Neb. - The recent deaths of bull elk on a local ranch are the predictable results of bad management, according to the North American Elk Breeders Association (NAEBA) Executive Director Lisa Villella.

"This is the only possible result when almost 500 bull elk are penned together without adequate separation," said Villella. "Large dominant males will invariably fight with smaller males, often with disastrous results like these," Villella added.

The affected rancher was neither a member of NAEBA nor the Nebraska Elk Breeders Association.

Male elk are large animals with a formidable rack of antlers. Often weighing in at more than 1,000 pounds, the large bulls become extremely aggressive during the late-summer breeding season, or "rut". They square off with other bulls for dominance of a harem of cow elk, fighting for the right to breed and pass on their genes.

Often, smaller bull elk are driven away and denied the chance to breed. In this particular incident, however, the smaller elk had nowhere to go.

"Situations like this can be easily avoided, especially in a controlled ranch setting," said Villella. "We have been very careful to outline ways to deal with the elk as they approach the rut so that the potential for injury is almost completely eliminated," Villella added.

One of the most important protocols outlined for ranchers who have to handle elk during the rut is the removal of all hard antler. In NAEBA's Elk Farming Handbook, the authors state, "[T]here is no place for hard antler on intensive elk farms where handling of males in the rut in yards is required." Other important guidelines include separating bull elk by age and providing adequate space on ranches for elk to establish individual territories.

"While the cloud of death could have been avoided for most of the elk, there is a silver lining," said Villella. "None of the animals that died showed any signs of disease." Tests for chronic wasting disease, a degenerative neurological malady that affects deer and elk, all came back negative, indicating that the high mortality rate was due to physical trauma.