Elk in Quarantine, Awaiting Trip to West Virginia

Dozens of elk rounded up in grasslands of a northern Arizona wildlife area are waiting to be trucked to a new home in West Virginia. Wildlife officials netted 60 elk from the Raymond Wildlife Area about 30 miles southeast of Flagstaff, then used a helicopter sling to take them to a holding pen for a month-long quarantine, according to the Arizona Daily Sun. West Virginia contacted Arizona about getting elk several months ago because the state’s population is one of the few that are free of diseases like tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease. The elk will be released in two wildlife management areas that amount to 40,000 acres, and the goal is to bring in 250 elk over the next four to five years.