US may cull Yellowstone elks as suspected disease source

U.S. federal officials are considering a tentative plan to reduce the numbers of elks in Yellowstone National Park as they suspect elks as the source of a serious livestock disease carried by animals in the area, according to media reports Monday.

More than 6,000 wild bison leaving Yellowstone have been culled over the last two decades to contain brucellosis, which causes pregnant cattle to abort their young.

However, cattle in parts of Wyoming and Montana where bison haven't roamed for decades are also being infected.

Livestock officials in both states are now targeting elks as the cause and say the infected elk herds around Yellowstone must be culled.