Aerial survey of elks show Cameron Peak fire did not hinder herds health

LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- On January 7, wildlife biologist Angelique Curtis for the Colorado Parks and Wildlife boarded a plane to conduct an aerial survey of an elk herd in Larimer County, just north of Fort Collins.

Curtis said this elk flight was for the herd E-4. The purpose of this flight was to see the health of the elk, estimate the population, and determine how many licenses CPW can give out each year. This herd was particularly important because it's where the Cameron Peak fire was and this flight was the first over E-4 since 2006.

This flight helped CPW track the health of the elk following what was the largest wildfire to ever burn in Colorado's history. The Cameron Peak fire burned for 112 days and burned 208,913 acres.

According to CPW, the Cameron Peak Fire did not stop the herds from finding their wintering grounds, rather Curtis found a healthy and robust elk population.

CPW routinely performs elk flights to gain important biological information about the herds. According to Curtis, the groups they fly over can reach up to 2,000 elks at a time.

For more information on how CPW conducts aerial survey's, follow the information given through this tweet:

Biologist Angelique Curtis recently conducted an aerial survey of the elk herds in Larimer County. The #CameronPeakFire did not inhibit the herds from finding their wintering grounds & she found a healthy & robust elk population.

See more: https://t.co/ByNu2EJK1G pic.twitter.com/O6twTEeQ3E

— CPW NE Region (@CPW_NE) January 14, 2021