Elk gores tourist, cars

By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer

Rangers in Yellowstone National Park sawed the antlers off a big bull elk this week after it gored a Texan.

The 700 plus-pound animal, in a testosterone-fueled rutting spree, also roughed up a park worker and damaged a dozen vehicles, causing at least $10,000 worth of damage.

It all happened while the bull was jealously hoarding his harem of cows in park headquarters at Mammoth Hot Springs.

"There were six cars and two people on Sunday" alone, said park spokesman Al Nash. "It was all attributable to one bull."

Rangers and the park's bear management team tranquilized the bull Monday morning then cut his six-point by seven-point antlers off with a saw.

"It's not something we do lightly," Nash said. "But we considered it the best option we had available."

Elk are in full rut right now. About six mature bulls and dozens of cows are spending the breeding season in Mammoth, where the bulls use the stately buildings to keep their harems corralled.

This time of year, lust is the dominant condition in Mammoth, where bulls joust for dominance and bugle all night long.

The bull had attacked six vehicles prior to Sunday, Nash said, and park workers were trying to keep visitors away from him.

However, a 60-year-old man from Texas walked up to within 10 feet of the bull near a restaurant. Then he took a flash picture, turned his back and started to walk away.

That's when the bull charged, lacerating the man's head and hands and possibly bruising his chest.

"It sounded like he had to have a couple stitches," Nash said.

The bull attacked six more cars that day, then laid into a male park worker who walked out of the ranger station and into the bull.

"He got bruised and knocked around a bit," Nash said.

He said nobody he'd talked to could remember a visitor being gored by an elk before, though cars get poked every year.

"It's anything but common," Nash said of the goring. "But this reinforces the point that, even though they might look docile, there's a reason we tell people to keep their distance."

The bull had been tending a large harem, Nash said.

"He's a mature animal who was having a successful fall, to put it delicately," he said.

That could be over for the year.

A 1983 study by Canadian Researcher Anthony Bubenik tells of elk and other species using brush to make their antlers look bigger, attract more females and intimidate other males.

"Females of red deer, wapiti, caribou and moose were always attracted by large and super large antlers," Bubenik's research found.

Bulls with small antlers often get snubbed if the females have a choice, he concluded.

Rangers feared the de-antlered bull would try to continue to breed, putting himself at risk from intact rivals.

"He's still hanging around," Nash said, adding that a park volunteer had been assigned to follow the animal around for a day and keep an eye on him.

"At some point," he said, the animal figured out he was without antlers.

There have been no further incidents reported.

The bull will grow a new set of antlers next year.

Scott McMillion is at scottm@dailychronicle.com

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