The mysterious disease is being studied, but experts remain unsure about its causes or how to eradicate it
Hard yards: For animals with elk hoof disease keeping up is an issue. The limping elk on the left (note rear leg) at Conboy National Wildlife Refuge in Washington displays signs of elk hoof disease. Photo by Nancy Harbert
By Jurgen Hess. December 17, 2020. Elk hunters and biologists agree elk numbers are down in Southwest Washington over the past several years, perhaps as much as 30%. Whatever the exact number, it’s certain fewer animals are being sighted.
What’s behind the decrease?
“Too many hunters!” says Tom Linde, a hunter from Carson, Washington, who didn’t shoot an elk this year.
That’s one answer, and it’s not entirely wrong. The number of elk on Zumwalt Prairie in eastern Oregon was reduced from about 4,500 in 2015 to about 3,500 in 2020 as a result of planned population management that’s included hunting.
But there’s a relatively recent phenomenon that’s also been affecting the health of the animals—elk hoof disease.
First noted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) in 2008, elk hoof disease is a grisly condition producing deformed hooves that often overgrow until they resemble claws, or sometimes curl upward like elf slippers. Once overgrown, hooves can snap and break, resulting in bloody stumps, infected abscesses and rotting flesh. The condition is horribly painful for the elk, and frequently proves fatal.
The deformed hoofs impede walking and running resulting in affected elk becoming lame. They limp and struggle to keep up with the herd.
Initially based on reports from hunters, the disease was first confirmed in animals in the pumice plains west of Mount St. Helens and in Southwest Washington’s Willapa Hills private timberlands. It’s since been confirmed in elk populations in Oregon, Idaho and northern California.
Spreading out: Estimates of elk hoof disease distribution (in red) are based on hunter and other public reports confirmed by Washington State University. Courtesy of WSU
Elk are gregarious. They’re social and hang out in herds of 20 to 50 animals. That can be an effective deterrent to predators, but not to communicable disease. Elk bed down as herds, spreading the disease, which has now been detected in all Washington counties that have elk.
Harold Cole, a former Conboy National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) manager/biologist and current Klickitat County range/timber deputy, has spotted the disease in herds around Glenwood and Trout Lake, Washington.
“It’s sad, so sad to see them hurting getting around. It may be nature’s way, but it’s cruel,” says photographer Nancy Harbert, who has observed elk in the Conboy NWR southwest of Glenwood. Southwest Washington hunter Joel Basch recently saw a herd crossing the Glenwood-Trout Lake Highway. Out of approximately 50 elk, he counted six limping and struggling to keep up with the herd.
Researching causes
Dr. Margaret Wild, a professor at the Washington State University Department of Veterinary Microbiology & Pathology, has studied the causes of elk hoof disease and concluded that bacterium called treponeme are responsible. The bacterium thrive in damp soils, in places such as wet meadows.
“Conditions fostering the infection include the pathogen’s prevalence, animal robustness and the environment,” says Wild. “The bacteria organism has to be there and there need to be conditions of anaerobic wet soils in areas where animals tend to congregate.”
Closer inspection: A $1.5 million state grant helps researchers, including Dr. Margaret Wild, examine elk in a pen enclosure. Courtesy of WSU
Has the pathogen historically been present in such environments? Or is it a relatively recent development?
“Like white-nose syndrome in bats, elk hoof disease may have historically been there, but for some reason the prevalence of the disease is dramatically increasing,” says Wild. Climate change may be a factor, though she says it’s too soon to be sure.
In 2019 Columbia Insight reported on concerns that timber industry chemical sprays were the root cause of the disease. Wild doesn’t rule that out as a possibility.
“It’s way too early to take anything off the table as to causes,” she says.
With $1.5 million in funding from a state grant, Wild’s WSU team has been studying elk hoof disease since 2019. The grant paid for construction of a four-acre enclosure in Pullman, Washington, that allows the team to study elk in a controlled environment.
One conclusion so far—the treponeme bacterium is not infectious to humans.
Elk meat and elk hoof disease
Kyle Garrison, a WDFW ungulate specialist and elk hoof disease program manager, says the incidence of elk hoof disease in Washington is decreasing though just slightly. The highest prevalence noted by WDFW came between 2010 and 2013. Sightings of diseased elk reported by hunters—WDFW bases its analysis on reports of limping animals—decreased in 2018 and 2019.
One question most hunters want answered—is meat from affected elk safe to eat?
Experts from both WSU and WDFW say treponeme bacterium haven’t been found in the any of the meat of affected elk—only in the hoofs. But they’re hedging bets. In a February 2019 statement, WDFW said the meat is “probably safe to eat.”
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has also stated meat from elk with elk hoof disease is safe to consume.
Social dilemma: Elk enjoy each other’s company. That enables the spread of elk hoof disease. Photo by Jurgen Hess
“We feed our families for the whole year from elk we hunt,” says Yakama Nation member Dave Blodgett III. “Elk are essential to sustain us.”
When Blodgett shot an elk in 2020 in the eastern Klickitat portion of the Yakama Indian Reservation, he found no elk hoof disease on the animal. He says while they remain vigilant, tribal hunters have seen little of the disease, though they tend to only hunt on the dry side of their Yakama Nation lands.
“The tribe has seen deer drastically decline from disease brought in by domestic livestock,” he says. “With deer decreasing, we rely primarily on elk now (for meat). All our families do. We don’t want the hoof disease in our area.”
Blodgett believes the higher prevalence of the disease in the Trout Lake and Glenwood areas is due to higher rainfall there.
No clear solution
Opinions regarding remedies for elk hoof disease can be grouped into three categories: disease management, habitat and elk prevalence, and animal density.
In terms of disease management Dr. Wild feels it’s too soon to recommend treatments. She says more study is needed before an effective management strategy can be conceived, much less implemented.
Moving in: “Habitat is decreasing with new homes and fences in areas historically used by elk,” says WDFW’s Carly Wickhem. Photo by Jurgen Hess
Inoculating elk against the disease is a possibility. But compared with domestic livestock, it’s extremely difficult to treat diseases in wild animals with inoculations.
“We need to know more about the disease before we can make recommendations about what to do,” says Wild.
Both Wild and WDFW’s Garrison believe removal of affected animals, or “culling,” could be attempted.
According to WDFW biologist Carly Wickhem, however, WDFW tried that approach in 2018 on the Trout Lake elk herd. The effort wasn’t successful—elk took cover in trees and were difficult to spot. While the goal of that plan was to reduce herd density by killing 15 to 20 animals, Wickhem says “only a few were killed.”
While the experts and hunters interviewed for this article say elk numbers are down and believe elk hoof disease is at least partly responsible, none advanced a novel solution.
Hunter Tom Linde offered a simple idea: “Close the (elk hunting) season, don’t allow hunting. This would build up the herds again. WDFW hasn’t been managing the elk.”
But this solution doesn’t directly address the disease. And given WDFW’s pro-hunting culture, curtailing elk hunting is unlikely.
Wild says determining the sustainable density of elk per a given area is critical. Fewer elk would have less competition for food and would potentially be healthier—that leads back to a consideration of culling herds.
“It’s a complex issue, but we have to have hope or there is no reason to do the work we are doing,” says Wild. “Infectious diseases operate by the same rules as human diseases, like COVID.”
“We have to be realistic, wild animals get sick, disease happens in the natural world—part of nature,” says Wickhem. “It will take time to figure this out. I’m asking the public to be patient.”
Photojournalist Jurgen Hess is treasurer/secretary of Columbia Insight. He spent 34 years as a U.S. Forest Service manager.
“Culling them” has led to almost no elk in our area. This is not the answer. I believe 100% it is the chemicals used by the timber industry. We need to go back to slash burning, this would bring up new growth of plants. The elk were plentiful back then. Inoculation sounds like a good addition to the answer and slash burning again
test
Regarding WDFW’s reluctance to try the “no hunting,” fix, it should be pointed out that the agency is largely funded through the sale of licenses and tags to hunters. Fixing THAT would require legislative changes that are equally unlikely. Has anyone asked if more predators on the landscape would keep the elk from congregating for long periods in the damp meadows where the footrot thrives? I’m sure this answer would be as popular with hunters and hikers as the hunting ban . . .