Biologists Ask Why Wy. Elk Dropping Dead
By MEAD GRUVER

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) - As the Wyoming countryside begins to thaw, biologists and game wardens are canvassing the rugged terrain to solve an alarming mystery: Why have hundreds of elk slumped to the ground and died in less than two months?

Despite intensive research, the wildlife deaths have stymied state officials, who have investigated a host of theories ranging from deliberate poisoning to exposure to heavy metals.


``The only time we've ever seen any deaths like this before have been winter-related deaths - severe winters, starvation-type things - which is not the case,'' state veterinarian Walt Cook said.

At least 289 elk have been affected in south-central Wyoming since early February. The sick animals usually slump to the ground and cannot get up. Many eventually die of thirst. Some have also been euthanized by employees of the state Game and Fish Department.

Cook's specialty is investigating mysterious animal deaths. He first looks for the telltale brain perforations of chronic wasting disease, the deer-and-elk version of mad cow disease.