A “moose bone farm” with 15 mutilated heads and scores of broken bones is discovered at the bottom of a steep Idaho cliff: wildlife officials say the animals died in an avalanche
- Idaho Fish and Game officials picked up a mortality signal from a collared moose
- The personnel followed the signal and found a moose graveyard at the bottom of a steep cliff
- The team speculates that the elk climbed the mountain when an avalanche released large boulders that plunged the elk about 1,000 feet down
Idaho Fish and Game officials recently came across a “moose bone farm” at the base of Craig Mountain in Idaho.
The grisly sight included 15 moose heads, patches of fur, shredded flesh, shredded antlers and countless broken bones.
Wildlife workers were led to the gruesome scene when a mortality signal went out from a radio-collared moose on Craig Mountain.
Arriving at the slope, the team realizes that it was a landslide with boulders the size of beach balls that slaughtered the herd as they tried to scale the mountain.
The grisly sight included 15 moose heads, patches of fur, shredded flesh, shredded antlers and countless broken bones
Idaho Fish and Game stumbled upon the pile of bone, fur, and flesh on July 8 after receiving signals from one of their collard elks.
Mark Shepard, chief technician at Idaho Fish and Game, wrote in a press release, “The data generated by the GPS collars gives wildlife workers the ability to track where collared individuals are, their movement patterns, and possibly where and in some cases how they die.
“When an animal is suspected to have died, staffers at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game go to the site of the last location and collect data to determine the cause of death.”
Officials went to Craig Mountain to find what they thought was a lone dead moose, but instead they found a total of 15 dead animals.
Wildlife workers were led to the gruesome scene when a mortality signal went out from a radio-collared moose on Craig Mountain
They speculate that the herd was climbing up the mountainside when an avalanche released huge boulders.
The avalanche took them nearly 1,000 feet for a distance of 300 to 400 meters, this group of elk was engulfed in debris and snow, ultimately resulting in death,” Shepard wrote.
The team searched the bones and found a total of four radio collars.
In the video shared by Idaho Fish and Game, Shepard can be heard saying, “I’m sure [there was] some cleanup,” Shepard says in the video. “But with so many bones, it’s hard to tell which ones go with which collar.”
They speculate that the herd was climbing up the mountainside when an avalanche released huge boulders
The avalanche “threw them down nearly 1,000 feet over a distance of 300 to 400 meters, this group of moose was engulfed in debris and snow, ultimately resulting in death.”
Located near the Washington-Oregon-Idaho border, Craig Mountain is a 115,000-acre wildlife sanctuary.
The recent moose death is similar to the fate of another heard in Oregon in 2018, reports Northwest Sportsman.
A total of 19 were traversing Central Cascades Mountain when a large slab of rock fell down the mountain and buried them.
Officials speculate that the event took place in either 2016 or 2017 but was not discovered until the summer of 2018.
“Natural events such as avalanches and rockfalls often go unnoticed, and it is generally unknown how these events affect wildlife,” writes Shepard.
“This event is evidence that natural events like this can impact a wildlife population.
“Collars placed on multiple species across the state over months and years allow the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to make managerial decisions about the conservation, protection and preservation of wildlife for continued use and public enjoyment inform.”