Why kill all elk to find there’s no threat?

Free-roaming elk seem to be making the news in northeast Iowa. I don't think there is any mystery as to where the elk came from. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has apparently shot several of the elk to check for chronic wasting disease. If they have not found anything in the killed elk, this would indicate to me that there is no problem.

The DNR says that captive elk are a real threat. I would be interested to know if CWD has ever been found in captive elk in Iowa. Captive elk are isolated from other elk and I wouldn't think the disease would appear spontaneously.

I fully expect the DNR to kill all of the elk, find nothing and then “doctor up” the final report to justify their actions. This whole line of events will remove all chances of having a wild elk population in northeast Iowa.

Robert Hansmeier

Waukon