C2 - Sunday, January 2, 1983 - North Shore News

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MINITONAS, Man.
(UPC) - The elusive and
majestic elk — especially
Freddie and Peter — fatten
well, make great sausage and
could eventually become as
common as cattle on the
western plains.

Freddie and Peter are part
of the 20-head herd that John
Eisner runs on his farm in

the Minitonas region 400
kilometers northwest of
Winnipeg. It is the
province’s first elk ranch.

“We've bottle-raised a few
and they're just as tame as
cattle,” Eisner said, “but we
haven't really handled them
a whole lot. They’ve got 80
acres to roam in and they're
just free.”

The ranch,
under authority of the
provincial fish and wildlife
branch, is a year-old ex-
periment to see whether elk
could be domesticated and

‘raised commercially for
their meat.
Eisner and a _ partner

Started with nine cows and
a bull, added another bull

NEWS pots Evie Eogectoon

ROBERT and Hazel Owen celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary this month
with the help of family and friends: The Owens have lived on the North Shore for 40

years.

RAVE

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operating .

Freddie

this year and raised nine
calves, all of which lived.
Peter and Freddie were
named by Ejisner’s children
who bottle-fed them.

The elk, which weigh up
to 400 kilograms, have their
graze supplemented in
winter by alfalfa, hay and
oats. They are kept in a
partially-treed pasture that
receives special attention

from wildlife officers to keep

poachers away. So far, no
hunters have tried for an

easy shot at.a9-pocint ! ee

PREP -~

Although the experiment
is less than a year old, Eisner

animals for slaughter or to
sell the meat. Changes in
legislation will have to wait
until the experiment is
further along.

Eisner said his elk won't
be hunted. “If someone
wants to hunt, they can go
hunting them in the wild. It
gives the game a little better

said His” operation has
already showed that elk
fatten more quickly than
cattle, tame easily and are
disease free.

“I think they fare way
better than domestic
livestock. There’s no
comparison. I'd say you can
keep four elk where you
keep one cow. They just
don't eat as much. I imagine
it was made that way to
survive in the wild because
they don’t get that much to
eat like a domestic animal.”

Not only that, but elk,
with their heavy coats —
which Eisner said make fine
leather _— don't like barns.
never lay in straw, they'd
just go lay in bush.”

Eisner, who also runs a
game farm, said elk meat is
similar to beef and is very
low in fat content, which
could make elk steaks ideal
for people in low-cholesterol
diets. And because the meat
is lean, it makes great
sausage.

But don't expect to find
or Peter as a
standing rib roast at the meat
counter. Under provincial
laws, it is illegal to sell wild

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chance, a fair chance. I
mean what fun would you
get going and shooting an
animal in the corral. I guess
in the end run, it’s the death
of the animal whether you
shoot it in the slaughter
house or if you shoot it in the
bush but that wasn't our
intention.”

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