Idaho Department of Fish and Game staff plan to feed elk at the long-established Bullwhacker site west of Ketchum from Jan. 5 until spring.

By feeding elk there as temperatures drop and snow accumulates, staff aim to keep the animals away from the communities of Ketchum and Sun Valley. Typically, more than 125 elk are fed each year at the site, according to the department.

Feeding is expected to continue until April.

Many deer and elk have become year-round or seasonal residents within communities throughout the Wood River Valley, and wintertime conflicts with people have increased, according to a Fish and Game news release.

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission sanctions Bullwhacker, where winter feeding has occurred annually since the 1980s. The site’s purpose is to keep elk away from communities, where conflicts can occur, rather than to supplement food on winter range.

Big game animals that remain in and around communities run a higher risk of getting hit on roads, caught in fences, falling through thin ice on decorative ponds and into house window wells, according to the department. The animals also can be chased by off-leash dogs and get tangled in swing sets and hammocks.