15 Heads, Flesh, Fur, Bones of Dead Animals Found in Idaho Elk Boneyard Speculated to Be Caused by Avalanche

Officials at the Idaho Fish and Games recently tumbled upon a massive pile of remnants from what they called an elk boneyard, close to Lewiston at Craig Mountain.

A Mail Online report specified that the horrible view included "15 elk heads, shredded flesh, patches of fur, mangle antlers," and innumerable broken bones.

The IDFG discovered the pile of bones, flesh, and fur earlier this month, following receipt of signals from one of their collard elks.

According to the senior technician with Idaho Fish and Game, Mark Shepard, data gathered from GPS collars allow wildlife staff to track where collared individuals are located, including their movement patterns and possibly where, in certain circumstances, how they die.

15 Dead Animals

As specified in a Northwest Sportsman report, when an animal is suspected of having died, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game staff goes to the location of the last site and collects data to identify the cause of death.

Officials trekked to Craig Mountain to search for what they thought would be the only dead elk. However, they found 15 dead animals in all.

They speculated that the herd climbed up the mountainside when an avalanche released giant boulders.

Then, this avalanche brought them nearly 1,000 feet over just around 300- to 400-yard distance. The group of elk was caught up in the rubble, and snow eventually led to death, reported Shapard.

The group sifted through the bones and discovered a total of four collars. In the Idaho Fish and Game video, Shepard says he's sure "there was some scavenging."

However, he continued with a lot of bones there; it's difficult to determine "which ones to which collar, as indicated on the official website of the IDFG.

Massive Rack Slab

Craig Mountain is situated close to where Washington and Oregon meet Idaho. More so, it is a wildlife management area of 115,000 acres.

The recent elk deaths are akin to the fate of another reported in Oregon in 2018. Nineteen individuals were crossing the Central Cascades mountain when a massive rock slab tumbled down it and buried them.

Based on the officials' speculation, the event occurred in either 2016 or 2017, but they were not discovered until the summer of 2018.

Shepard explained that natural events like avalanches and rock slides frequently take place sans being discovered, and it is generally unknown how these occurrences affect wildlife.

This occurrence shows that natural events like this can affect a wildlife population. Collars placed on multiple species throughout the state over the span of months, and even years, were enabling the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to inform management decisions in terms of preservation, protection, and perpetuation of wildlife for the public's continued use and enjoyment.

A report about the recent discovery of bones is shown on Fish and Game's YouTube video below:

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