Most of the elk in Virginia are migrants from the
Kentucky herd which were first introduced into Kentucky in 1997. The herd in Kentucky has done so well(estimated at over 7,000 now), that they have spread into Virginia, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Virginia never wanted the elk so they allowed hunters to shoot them and tag them utilizing one of their deer tags. I think Virginia was so anti elk because of the concern of the spread of CWD. I think they have now realized they are here to stay and CWD will come here whether elk do are don't...
Also, these elk are the western subspecies of elk not the native eastern subspecies which went extinct in the mid-late 1800's. Virginia has seen a push to protect the elk that are migrating from Kentucky into Virginia for several reasons. First, elk were native to Virginia, albeit a different subspecies. Second, elk make big bucks for local economies from viewing and hunting.
Pennsylvania has a decent size herd of elk in the north central part of the state. That herd is much older, being introduced back in the 1910's-1920's. It has done well, but nowhere near as well as the Kentucky herd has. Today they number around 200 or so. The Benezette area of PA is the heart of the elk herd. In September, that town swells from a few hundred to thousands as they come to watch and listen to the elk. Pennsylvania also opened up very limited hunting for elk which also brings in money for their management and to the local economy. Pennsylvania has worked hard to keep the elk in a fairly small area, trapping and transferring elk that wander too far away from where they are supposed to be. I have a friend who's family owns land a good bit away from the "elk range" and occasionally he sees elk on his land, usually young males who are striking out on their own. The biggest problem Pennsylvania faces is the damage elk do to crops so they try to keep the elk in areas of minimal farming where they can't cause problems. Otherwise, the elk get shot by farmers.
Western elk are far less adapted to mature forestland, requiring substantial open grassy areas. The extinct eastern elk were adapted to more mature forests of their native eastern habitat. Western elk introduced into areas of the east where it is mostly forested tend not to do well which as I understand it is why the old Peaks of Otter herd finally went extinct. That area of Virginia is mostly mature old forest not conducive to western elk habitat needs. The areas the elk are doing well in the east are usually old mining areas such as eastern Kentucky, parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. In these areas, there are pockets of forest but due to mining activities, there are substantial areas of open grassy areas similar to western habitat. In areas like this, the western elk thrive in the east. In Pennsylvania, the elk do well but black bears which are quite numerous in the elk range take a toll on the calves which limits their reproductive success. Kentucky has a limited black bear population. West Virginia and Virginia have much larger black bear numbers and therefore, the elk may not fare so well. I'd love to see Virginia protect the elk and encourage their spread and allow limited controlled hunting. Southwestern and western parts of Virginia and eastern and southeastern parts of West Virginia are rural enough where elk people conflict would be minimal.
