VANSANT, Va. (AP) -- Another group of elk is roaming a reclaimed strip mine in Southwest Virginia.

The state recently released two adult cows and eight yearlings on a mountain in Buchanan County. The elk were brought from Kentucky as part of a pilot program aimed at returning the animals to Virginia.

The elk are the Rocky Mountain version of a native species that was last seen in Virginia around the time of the Civil War.

State wildlife biologist Allen Boynton tells the Bristol Herald Courier ( http://bit.ly/13RejaB ) that the elk are expected to join a herd of 24 others that were previously released or born in the past year.

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries plans to bring another 50 elk from Kentucky next year.

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Information from: Bristol Herald Courier, http://www.bristolnews.com