JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A draft plan to restore elk in Missouri calls for the release of up to 150 animals in the southeastern region in early 2011.
The Missouri Department of Conservation has posted the plan on its website, and is scheduled to consider it during an Oct. 15 meeting.
The elk would be released in Shannon, Carter and Reynolds counties.
The Conservation Department said it received more than 2,300 comments about elk restoration from mid-July through September, and 80 percent favored the release.
Elk were native to Missouri but were killed off in the 1800s by hunting and habitat destruction. The department said elk brought to Missouri from other states would undergo health tests and would be fitted with radio collars to track their movements.
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