Truck Kills 11 Elk On I-90 -- Ten Cows, Calf Run Into Tractor- Trailer Rig West Of Cle Elum

CLE ELUM, Kittitas County - Eleven elk were killed this morning when they ran onto Interstate 90 and were hit by a tractor-trailer truck, authorities said.

The elk ran into the front and side of the truck at 3:20 a.m. in the westbound lanes of I-90, seven miles west of Cle Elum, the Washington State Patrol reported.

The driver, Jimmy McDaniel of Waco, Texas, was not injured, the patrol said. Damage to the truck was estimated at $20,000.

All eleven animals were killed outright, said Steve Rogers, Cle Elum regional wildlife agent, who was notified of the accident by the patrol.

Ten cows and one calf were killed. The adult animals weigh 500 to 700 pounds.

Rogers said it was the largest single road kill in his memory.

The carcasses were loaded in a dump truck by a Transportation Department highway crew. Road kills are routinely dumped, although salvageable meat goes to the county jail, Rogers said.

Elk migrate through the area each spring and fall, and a herd of about 40 has been in a pasture along the interstate for several days, Rogers said. The animals sometimes cross the highway at night to reach a golf course.

Rogers said he would watch the herd for injured animals.

A truck driver who passed the accident, Don Beckley of Moses Lake, said some of the dead elk were pregnant.