Citizen’s urged to stay away from elk

Wildlife biologists are warning Upstate residents and visitors not to closely approach a young bull elk that has wandered into South Carolina from North Carolina.  The first official sighting of an elk in South Carolina was made on Friday, Oct. 21 at Camp McCall, a South Carolina Baptist Convention camp on US 178 in northern Pickens County. In the following days, the elk was seen at the Sunset Post Office on SC 11; in the Nine Times Community, also in northern Pickens County;  and at The Reserve at Lake Keowee golf course, which is near SC 133 in Sunset.  Tammy Wactor, a wildlife biologist with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR), said legislation that was passed five years ago by the S.C. General Assembly protects elk in the Palmetto State, so they cannot be harmed. Wactor said the young bull elk, which may weigh upwards of 700 pounds, was likely pushed out of its territory in Heywood County, North Carolina, by bigger bulls.