KETCHUM, Idaho (AP) — State officials have made safer a central Idaho elk feeding station where 43 elk died last winter, including 38 calves.

The Idaho Mountain Express reports in a story on Wednesday that the Idaho Department of Fish and Game upgraded the feeding station and cleared brush at the site eight miles west of Ketchum. Agency spokesman Kelton Hatch says snow accumulations last winter forced elk to the feeding station.

But he says the agency couldn't get the food dispersed enough for all the elk. Officials say a mountain lion killed 11 elk and 22 more were trampled. Hatch says a new concrete slab and metal shed have been installed to replace a wooden building. Officials say the elk would go into town if not for the feeding station.

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