Photo courtesy of Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has requested permission to add as many as 30 imported elk to the existing herd of 52 elk now living in the Cataloochee Valley.

RALEIGH, N.C. — The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is reviewing a request to import more elk into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has requested permission to import as many as 30 elk into the park from Kentucky. The park would like to add these animals to the existing herd of 52 elk in the Cataloochee Valley as part of an elk restoration project that began in 2001.

Efforts to bring more elk into the park have been on hold since May 2002, when a new state rule prohibited importation of cervids — deer, elk and related species. The rule was adopted to prevent the introduction of chronic wasting disease (CWD) into North Carolina.

CWD is an untreatable and always fatal disease that has afflicted cervids in 14 states and two Canadian provinces. The closest confirmed incidence of the disease is in West Virginia, approximately 300 miles from North Carolina’s border. However, CWD has not been detected in North Carolina.

A provision in state wildlife regulations allows the Commission to waive certain restrictions. The Commission would have to amend the regulation to grant such a waiver, which it has not done in the case of cervid importation.

The Commission requires certain conditions to be satisfied, including:
* That the source herd in Land Between the Lakes, Ky., has been carefully monitored to ensure that it is free of chronic wasting disease.
* That the elk herd already in the park would be in imminent danger of dying out without an infusion of new animals.

Commission staff met in January with representatives of the park, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to discuss these issues. These agency officials will meet again this month to discuss more detailed information about the herd condition and disease concerns.