Tests on elk killed near Elliston last fall showed crossbreeding with European red deer, and state game officials say the genetic pollution confirms their misgivings about exotic animal breeding.
"It looks like our worst fears have come to fruition," said Heidi Youmans, author of a Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department paper on game farms. "We have a problem. It has happened."The hybrid animals were discovered after the wildlife agency, hoping to build a case against a poacher, sent elk samples to the federal wildlife forensics laboratory at Ashland, Ore., for genetic tests.
The results disclosed that one of the animals was not a pure elk but instead a third- or fourth-generation crossbreed with a European red deer, said Gary Burke, administrator of the department's criminal investigation bureau.
Worried officials collected samples from 10 other elk killed legally in the same area by hunters. One of those 10 showed red deer genes; another was probably a hybrid, though tests were inconclusive.
Officials said there is no way to tell whether the hybrid animals escaped from a game farm, were captive animals accidentally released during transit, or if they are the result of once-captive elk now breeding in the wild.
Some states have banned hybrids, fearing the result of escapes, and some states have banned game farms outright or imposed a moratorium on new ones.
In Utah, it's illegal to raise or breed captive elk, said John Leatham, a biologist with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
"Some of the states that have allowed it are having second thoughts," he said.
"The North American elk have evolved over a period of time, and they've adapted to this area," Leatham said. "The same with the European elk - they have some unique qualities. They may be susceptible or more immune to certain diseases. Native species could be wiped out if you're not careful."
The tests likely will bolster the Montana wildlife department's opposition to exotic animal game farms.
The department has warned that crossbreeding between wild elk and escaped exotics could forever alter wild elk stocks. And biologists say escapes from game farms are inevitable.
Red deer are similar to Rocky Mountain elk but are smaller and more aggressive breeders. They bellow instead of bugle, and they've been crossbred with elk on game farms in the United States and abroad.
Montana bans the import of hybrids or red deer. But the limits of genetic testing make detection difficult.
The Elliston hybrids bore no ear tags, as required for captive animals, and Youmans said it's impossible to tell if they were recent escapees or the wild offspring of past escapees.
She said the nearest game farm is about 90 miles away, and the department has had no reports of escapes or accidents in transport. However, she said, game farmers often are reluctant to report problems.