The rumors could be attributed to confusion with another incident where a poached elk was found shot during the muzzleloading season for deer in Hawkins County. This elk was one of those stocked in Kentucky over the past five years. A few of the Kentucky elk have crossed the state line and have been spotted in some Tennessee counties. This elk had been dead for some time when discovered, according to Markham. Biologists were able to salvage the elk's head and it is being tested for diseases at the University of Tennessee.
Biologists say the newly stocked elk are staying close to the release site and close together.
Current game laws can be easily amended in the legislature and fines could include the replacement cost of the animal, which could include monitoring electronic, the cost of transporting the animal for relocation, and even the cost of testing incured by TWRA for diseases before their release. Now manager of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency's wildlife division, Markham was one of several hundred people who drove over ice-covered roads to the top of a mountain to see a native species, elk, return to the wild in Tennessee. Once elk roamed all across the state, but wide-scale logging and other land use changes, along with unregulated hunting, eventually diminished their numbers. The last elk seen in Tennessee was killed in Obion County in 1865. With the exception of Anderson County, these counties are rural, contain little industry, and most of the land belongs to coal and lumber companies.