COVID-19 strikes again. This time the victim is people who want to see wild elk up-close and personal in West Virginia. Coronavirus concerns cancelled popular elk tours scheduled for later this fall.
“The health and safety of our guests and our employees is paramount,” Lauren Cole, Chief Logan State Park naturalist, told the Charleston Gazette-Mail. “The problem is that we have to put 12 guests and two employees in a 15-passenger van to get to the Wildlife Management Area property where the elk are. There’s no way to social-distance in a van.”
Wildlife viewers cannot drive personal vehicles to view elk because of a lack of parking. Staffers hope to resume the tours in 2021.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation assisted with the successful restoration of elk to their native West Virginia range in 2016.
(Photo source: West Virginia Division of Natural Resources)