Elk Hoof Disease

Mineral supplementation is not a clear answer to elk hoof disease.

While we don’t have ways to treat or cure elk with hoof disease in the wild, there are ways to help researchers and managers.

A disease in elk that causes deformed hooves and eventually leads to lameness and death is also associated with abnormal, asymmetrical antlers, a WSU‑led study of hunter reports found.

Learn more about our research and students.

Healthy elk can contract the rapidly spreading disease, known as TAHD, by simply walking on soil contaminated previously by infected hooves.

Experiment provides clues to how hoof disease is spread.

An overview of the Elk Research Facility

We are now obtaining preliminary findings from a more advanced diagnostic approach called metagenomic analysis.

Collaboration with the state and tribal wildlife managers and participation by hunters and landowners has been key.

Elk hoof disease broke out most notably in 2008, not too far from where it was first observed in the late 1990s.