Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Wyoming
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Most elk population estimates are based largely on data collected from aerial classification surveys. Although aerial surveys are an excellent source of data, they are costly and dangerous. Recent wildlife underpass projects and pilot projects to monitor migratory elk populations suggest there may be potential to obtain accurate estimate of annual elk trend from digital cameras as animals move through migration bottlenecks during their spring and fall migrations. This project is evaluating the use of remote cameras to monitor population dynamics and migration patterns of elk in northwest Wyoming.