Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) are capturing and testing elk as part of a multi-year elk brucellosis project to determine the prevalence and movement of the disease within Montana’s elk herds. To date, all of the 122 blood samples that WFP has collected so far among elk in the Highland Mountains have tested negative for brucellosis, according to NBC Montana.

The agency captured elk in the Highland Mountains in January, outfitting 30 with GPS collars that will be monitored for a year so wildlife managers can “better understand their seasonal ranges, migration routes and potential mixing with other elk herds.” Wildlife managers and animal health officials hope to use data gathered during this study to determine improved ways that elk and livestock can “overlap” in this region, according to NBC Montana.

Brucellosis is a bacterial disease known to infect humans, cattle, bison and elk, resulting in abortion or birth of weak calves. It’s transmitted primarily through contact with infected birth tissues and fluids. Livestock that use the area are also monitored for the disease by the Montana Department of Livestock in designated surveillance areas (DSA). 

The current negative tests obtained from the recently captured elk likely means that the current boundary around the DSA will remain the same for now.