Nearly a decade after elk were returned to West Virginia, the growing herd is beginning to venture beyond its familiar range, offering a new sign of how far the state’s ambitious wildlife restoration effort has come. The movement was highlighted by WV MetroNews, which reported in July that wildlife officials are seeing more elk explore beyond the Tomblin Wildlife Management Area in Logan County. The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR), meanwhile, says the restoration programme has brought the herd to about 130 animals and recorded at least 60 native calf births since the project began. One young female recently travelled north into Lincoln County near Harts Creek, spending time along a ridge and in a pasture on private farmland before returning to the Tomblin area. Wildlife officials were able to follow her movements through GPS telemetry. The journey is significant not because elk are suddenly spreading across the state, but because it shows individual animals are beginning to test the wider landscape available to them.
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