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The Elk Have Arrived!

The reintroduction of North American elk to the J.T. Nickel Family Nature and Wildlife Preserve has begun! On the gorgeous afternoon of March 8, 20 elk arrived via two transport trailers from a private ranch near Geary, Oklahoma. After a couple of moments of hesitation, one elk, then another, and finally the remainder of the new herd, bolted from the opened trailers into the 10-acre temporary holding pen. They were the first elk to set foot on this land in over 150 years! They quickly settled down and began checking out the perimeter of their new quarters. In short order, they were grazing on shoots of newly-emerged green grass.


The historic event was witnessed by TNC staff, media crews from Channel 6 in Tulsa and the Tulsa World, donors to the elk project and John Nickel, donor of the preserve property. John beamed from ear to ear the whole afternoon - and we're sure he still is! This had been a dream of his for many years.


The 5 bulls and 15 cows will remain in the holding pen until March 28, when the gate to the pen will be opened to allow the herd to wander out freely onto the Preserve. (If any one would like to see the elk, it might be best to visit the Preserve before the 28th.) Several of the cows should give birth to calves in late summer, adding to the herd.

Each elk has a radio collar and will be tracked at least twice a week by Larry Levesque, our elk project manager, to keep track of their location and gather scientific data on habitat preferences, range and daily movements.




The TNC staff is very excited about this new conservation project and wishes to thank all those who have helped make the project a reality, especially John Groendyke for donating the elk and their transportation, the Board elk committee for their advice and guidance, donors who have given in support of the project and the ODWC who has worked with us as we planned for this day.
John Nickel

And a special thank you to John Nickel and his family for their vision of the return of elk to this magnificent landscape and John's determination to make that vision a reality. We share in his pride over this first-ever reintroduction of elk to a TNC preserve.