In the summer months, elk will eat almost constantly and can consume between 8 to 15 pounds of food daily. Its diet consists of grasses, forbs, tree leaves and bark. Antler size can be very impressive with the largest antlers growing to upwards of 4 feet long and weighing 40 pounds or more.Įlk are a ruminant species with a four-chambered stomach the first stores the food and the other three digest it. Only males have antlers, which start growing in spring and are shed in winter. The males, or bull elk, average 700 pounds and stand 5 feet tall at the shoulder and are 8 feet long from nose to tail. The females, or cows, average 500 pounds, stand 4 1/2 feet tall at the shoulder, and are 6 1/2 feet long from nose to tail. They have a light beige rump patch, and their legs and neck are often darker than their body. The Rocky Mountain Elk is a large animal with a color that varies from copper brown in summer to light tan in fall, winter and spring. From a low of 50,000 total elk to the current estimates of around 1 million elk in North America, elk have proven to be resilient with little help. Sanctuaries such as Yellowstone National Park were established, and elk were slowly reintroduced to areas where they had been extirpated. States enacted hunting regulations and outlawed market hunting. Some estimates place the total number of elk as fewer than 50,000 at the turn of the century, a drastic reduction from the estimated 10 million elk roaming America when the first Europeans arrived.Īs herds diminished, men like Teddy Roosevelt - who gave the name to the Roosevelt subspecies - saw the need to start a conservation movement to help protect some of the dwindling elk herds and other animals hunted to near extinction. Continued development pushed the remaining herds to their last strongholds in the mountainous terrain of the western Rocky Mountain states and Pacific Northwest. Even today, the “ivories” are treasured by hunters from all cultures as a prized possession of a successful hunt.Īs the country was settled and western expansion began, the elk were slowly driven from their original range and eventually totally extirpated from most states east of the Mississippi. Some Native Americans used elk hides to cover their tipis and used the canine teeth, or “ivories,” of the elk for jewelry and clothing adornments. Elk hides were the source of blankets and robes. Many tribes relied on elk for food and clothing. This species played a significant role in Native American culture - the Anasazi of the southwestern United States painted pictograms and carved petroglyphs of elk into cliffs thousands of years ago. Elk are also referred to as “wapiti,” which is from the Shawnee and Cree tribal word waapiti meaning, “white rump.” Today, about 1 million elk live in the western, central and eastern United States and from Ontario, into western Canada.Įarly explorers in North America gave elk their name because they thought the animals resembled the European moose, with which they were familiar. Elk adapted to almost all ecosystems except the tundra, true deserts and the Gulf Coast. Prior to European settlement, an estimated 10 million elk roamed nearly all of what is now the United States and parts of Canada. The RMEF has also provided money for habitat development and land acquisition in states with viable elk populations. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), a conservation organization based in Montana whose stated mission is “to ensure the future of elk, other wildlife, their habitat and our hunting heritage,” has teamed with the game and fish departments of the various states to relocate elk from areas in the West. Kentucky, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have all initiated programs to transplant or rebuild elk herds. In the case of the North American Elk, or wapiti, more and more people in areas outside of the traditional Rocky Mountain Elk range are getting the chance to not only hear the mating calls of the dominant bulls, but to also take part in viewing or, in some cases, hunting elk in their home states. There are certain sounds in nature - like the deep woods howling of a timber wolf, or the spine-tingling bugle of a bull elk across a mountain meadow - that have come to signify wild and remote places in our country. Learn where are elk found and some interesting facts about elk in North America. Once on the brink of extinction in parts of the country, the North American Elk is making a resounding comeback.
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