BOULDER (AP) - State wildlife officials trapped some 200 elk Sunday at the Muddy Creek feed ground, but opted not to go ahead with plans to test the animals for brucellosis and slaughter any that tested positive, saying not enough the elk fit the program criteria.

Officials were hoping to test about 100 adult female elk, but only 40 to 50 eligible animals were among those that wandered into the state Game and Fish Department's trap, the Jackson Hole News and Guide reported.

Beginning the test-and-slaughter program without enough elk could spook the rest of the herd, making future testing more difficult, the agency said. Officials hope eventually to test as many as 300 animals, and could try again as soon as Monday.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal's Brucellosis Coordination Team has recommended the test-and-slaughter program as part of its plan to regain Wyoming's brucellosis-free status. Without that status, cattle exported from the state must undergo costly testing.

Several environmental groups question the test-and-slaughter program, saying it won't do anything significant to reduce brucellosis and only stands to kill scores of elk.

Brucellosis, a bacterial disease, can cause pregnant elk, cattle and bison to abort their fetuses. Wyoming lost its brucellosis-free status after a cattle herd near Pinedale and other cattle herds in western Wyoming tested positive for the disease in 2003 and 2004.

Information from: Jackson Hole News And Guide, http://www.jhnewsandguide.com