WILDLIFE -- Dozens of wintering elk are dead after the herd fell through the ice on a Snake River reservoir in eastern Oregon.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a Facebook post that 41 elk died Tuesday on the Powder River arm of Brownlee Reservoir.

Someone who lives near the reservoir called to report the incident, the Baker City Herald reported. Fish and Wildlife biologist Brian Ratliff told the newspaper the elk were trying to cross the reservoir from the north side when the ice broke in four places.

Officials drove to the area to see if it was possible to save any of the elk or salvage meat, but Ratliff said neither option was possible.

The reservoir is about 50 miles east of Baker City.