📷 Wsiegmund · CC BY 2.5
📷 John James Audubon
📷 U.S. Forest Service
IUCN: Least Concern
Elk (Wapiti)
Cervus canadensis
KingdomAnimalia›PhylumChordata›ClassMammalia›OrderArtiodactyla›FamilyCervidae›GenusCervus
About
Elk are among the largest deer in the world, and their autumn bugling rings across mountain valleys as bulls gather harems. Calves are born spotted and stay motionless in meadow grass. Elk winter migrations concentrate them in low valleys where herds can number in the hundreds. Antlers are shed each spring and regrow over the summer, covered in velvet.
Key Facts
⛰Habitat Forest, forest edge, alpine meadows, and river valleys
🍃Diet Herbivore — grasses, sedges, shrubs, and tree bark in winter
📏Size & Weight Body 1.6–2.7 m; shoulder height 1.2–1.5 m
•weight 230–500 kg
⏳Lifespan 10–13 years wild
🗺Range Western and central North America and eastern Asia; reintroduced in parts of the eastern United States
MammalDeer
Key Facts
⛰Habitat Forest, forest edge, alpine meadows, and river valleys
🍃Diet Herbivore — grasses, sedges, shrubs, and tree bark in winter
📏Size & Weight Body 1.6–2.7 m; shoulder height 1.2–1.5 m
•weight 230–500 kg
⏳Lifespan 10–13 years wild
🗺Range Western and central North America and eastern Asia; reintroduced in parts of the eastern United States
Photo Credits
#1Wsiegmund · CC BY 2.5
#2John James Audubon · Public domain
#3U.S. Forest Service · Public domain
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