Mysterious deaths of Wyoming elk solved; animals died after feeding on lichen

Yahoo! News ^ | Mar 22, 2004 | SARAH COOKE

[neverdem]

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - A lichen native to the Rockies has been blamed for the deaths of at least 300 elk in southern Wyoming, a mystery that had baffled wildlife scientists and cost the state thousands of dollars, the state said Monday.

Wildlife veterinarians had suspected the lichen after finding it in the stomachs of many of the elk that died in south-central Wyoming.To confirm their suspicions, three elk were fed the lichen at research facility. One collapsed and was unable to rise Sunday, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department said. A second elk also started stumbling and a third is expected to succumb quickly, officials said. All three will be euthanized.

The ground-dwelling lichen, known as Parmelia molliuscula, produces an acid that may break down muscle tissue, said Walt Cook, a Wyoming Game and Fish Department veterinarian leading the inquiry.

Elk native to the area weren't affected by the acid, but those killed in the die-off apparently had moved in from Colorado and may have lacked microorganisms needed to neutralize the acid, state biologists said. The Colorado line is 80 kilometres south of the area where the elk died.

"Elk don't normally winter down on the ... unit where they ate the lichen," Game and Fish spokesman Tom Reed said.

"Elk are incredibly adaptable, tough animals. They'll get by on thin rations and they'll make do somehow. But this year, nearly 300 of them paid the price for that adaptability," Reed said.

The first sick elk was found on Feb. 6 and scientists quickly ruled out chronic wasting disease, the deer and elk version of mad cow disease. They also eliminated most viruses and bacteria, malnutrition, exposure to heavy metals such as arsenic, and poisoning from a leaky gas well or pipeline.

The search for the cause became expensive. For a time, researchers used a helicopter to search for afflicted elk, but the flights cost $900 US an hour. Wildlife experts also drove into the rough country near the Continental Divide and slogged through melting snow and mud to collect plant specimens and elk droppings.

Scientists still want to know more about the lichen and why it contained high amounts of the acid this year.

"There are a lot of factors we'll need to look at," Reed said. "Do elk eat this lichen in normal years? If so, why hasn't this happened before? Does a long history of drought weigh in somehow? If so, what are our management options in the future?"

The die-off killed up to five per cent of the Sierra Madre herd's breeding females, and that will affect hunting quotas this fall and could trigger wildlife policy changes, Reed said.

Other steps, such as improving range conditions to provide healthier forage, will also be considered as researchers learn more and try to prevent future die-offs.

[neverdem]

It would be nice if they could identify the acid, and how it attacked muscle.

[neverdem]

PING

[quark]

It's all Bush/Cheney's fault! < /sarcasm>

[cyborg]

Could be useful for the rare diseases where there's too much muscle tissue. Sure there's a use for it somewhere.

[stylin19a]

So...will the tree-huggers have the MOOSE declared endangered or the lichen ?

[archy]

It would be nice if they could identify the acid, and how it attacked muscle.

And synthisize it and include it as an ingredient in a brand of regionally popular breakfast cereal.

Call 'em Mohammed's Frosty Flakes. With 72 raisins in every scoop!

By the propheet's beard, they're great!

[neverdem]

LOL

[Damagro]

"It's all Bush/Cheney's fault! < /sarcasm>"

Don't forget Haliburton, the former company of Vice president Dick Cheney, they probably had a no bid contract on the lichen

[Sacajaweau]

Oh no.....Global Warming (Except the natives elks DON't die.) Do the native Elks eat the exact same stuff in the exact same amounts?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I thought the problem was too much fat tissue.

[cyborg]

Pinging a vet freeper to see what he thinks

[vetvetdoug]

Plants and fungi can produce toxins/acids that can become myotoxic. The "Death Angel" attacks at the cellular level so it would not be inconceivable that a lichen could affect an Elk in the same manner, that is at a cellular level. It will make a nice read in a future Journal article. Without a toxicology book in front of me I could not remember any fungi or plant that would affect an animal the same way as described as to what happened to the elk.

What do I think? Plausible theory and they did reproduce the disease in a test animal.

[Swordmaker]

WHAT? You mean it ISN'T Bush's fault????

[brewer1516]

Damn! I had a lichen sandwich for lunch!

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.

[dirtboy]

Damn! I had a lichen sandwich for lunch!

I've got something that looks kinda like lichens growing between my toes.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!

[DuncanWaring]

growing between my toes.

Tofu?

[dirtboy]

Tofu?

Shitake. Should have a good crop any day now.

[JudyB1938]

I'm not spending as much time online like I used to, so I really appreciate your pinging me to this thread. Otherwise, I would have missed having the answer to this puzzle that I was wondering about. I'm glad it's a "natural" cause rather than some new thing that has mutated or something.

However, the reason for these particular elk's succombing and not the others is another example of "it's not nice to fool with mother nature". Moving those elk seemed like a good idea, but turned out to be fatal. It also confirms how deficient our so-called "experts" are in their repopulation efforts. It also points out the dangers they could be creating in other areas.

Did I ever tell you about the time Fish & Game did a release in Central Arkansas? The locals asked what they were doing. They said they were releasing wild turkeys. The lying SOB's were releasing RATTLE SNAKES! So now my imagination is running wild. What if the snakes bred with the existing snakes and created SUPER SNAKE. LOL

I'm just kidding about the snakes; but it is conceivable that mutants COULD emerge, doncha think?