Wapiti

''This article is about red deer. For the town of Red Deer see Red Deer, Alberta

Wapiti Status Lower Risk
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#redirect : Animalia #redirect : Chordata #redirect : Mammalia #redirect : Artiodactyla #redirect : Ruminantia #redirect : Cervidae #redirect : Cervus #redirect : elaphus
Binomial name
Cervus elaphus\ Linnaeus, 1758
Subspecies
C. e. canadensis - Eastern Elk, extinct C. e. roosevelti - Roosevelt Elk C. e. nannodes - Tule Elk C. e. nelsoni - Rocky Mountain Elk C. e. merriami - Merriam Elk, extinct C. e. manitobensis - Manitoban Elk

One of the largest North American game animals, they live in open forest and near forest edges in similar environment as deer. In mountain regions, they are known for living in rugged high elevations during the summer, and in winter they gather in lower areas with more shelter. Wapiti weigh 230 to 450 kg and stand 0.75-1.5 m high at the shoulder. Their antlers usually measure 1 -1.5 m across tip to tip. Males often weigh twice as much as females. Wapiti are known for their loud bugling during the rut.

Formerly widespread through Siberia and North America, in taiga, temperate forests and grassland, wapiti (elk) are found throughout North America, especially in Rocky Mountain region. Western wapiti have been brought to several states east of the Mississippi River including the Appalachian area where the now extinct subspecies Eastern Elk Cervus elaphus canadensis once lived.

The current elk population is estimated to be about one-tenth of the historic level. The population along with most other North American game animals reached a low point around 1900. However populations have rebounded with controls on hunting. There were estimated to be 782,500 elk in North America in 1989. About 72,000 then lived in Canada. Some 20,000 are in elk ranches where elk are raised for meat, antlers or for hunting. Most elk live in the west, especially the Rocky Mountain region. Only 3,500 elk live in the wild in the US east of Mississippi and that population is spread over 7 states. The population is similarly small in eastern Canada.

Elk, like other cervids, are subject to chronic wasting disease, which may be similar to Mad cow disease. The primary predators of adult elk are mountain lions, wolves, and grizzlies. Coyotes and black bears sometimes prey on calves.

U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt made a gift of wapiti to New Zealand, where they were released into the southwestern part of the South Island.

Table of contents

1 Subspecies 2 History 3 North American subspecies 3.1 Rocky Mountain Elk 3.2 Roosevelt Elk 3.3 Manitoba Elk 3.4 Tule Elk 4 External References

Subspecies

North American elk, like moose and caribou, are an Old World deer species that originated in Eurasia and spread to North America, crossing the Bering Land Bridge during the ice age. North American elk were once considered a separate species, and the Eurasian red deer another species. Scientists now consider the North American Elk and Eurasian red deer to be the same species. Cervus elaphus has roughly 27 subspecies, including some on the endangered species list: the Bactrian deer (C. e. bactrianus), Barbary deer (C. e. barbarus), Corsican red deer (C. e. corsicanus), Asiatic hangul or Kashmir deer (C. e. hanglu), Izubr stag or Isyubra deer/Manchurian red deer (C. e. xanthopygos), McNeill's red deer or Szechuan red deer (C. e. macneilli), Shou (C. e. affims) and Yarkand deer (C. e. yarkandanseis). Some of the other subspecies are the Alshansk or Ala-Shan red deer (C. e. alshanicus), Altai red deer (C. e. asiaticus or sibiricus), Balkan red deer (C. e. hippelaphus), Kansu red deer (C. e. kansuensis), Maral (C. e. sibiricus), Norwegian red deer (C. e. atlanticus'\'), Scottish red deer (C. e. scoticus), Shingielt red deer (C. e. wachei), Spanish red deer (C. e. hispanicus), Swedish red deer (C. e. elaphus), Tien-Shan red deer (C. e. songaricus) and Wallich's deer (C. e. Wallichii). There were originally six subspecies of elk in North America with an estimated population of about 10 million; the Rocky Mountain or Yellowstone elk (C. e. nelsoni), Manitoba elk (C. e. manatobensis), Olympic or Roosevelt elk (C. e. roosevelti) and the Tule elk (C. e. nannodes) still survive. The Eastern elk (C. e. canadensis) and the Merriam's elk (C. e. merriami'') are considered extinct.

History

North American subspecies

Of the six North American subspecies of wapiti, two are extinct, through hunting and habitat loss, the Eastern Elk, through human settlement, and the southwestern wapiti (Merriam's Elk) through hunting and increased desertification. A population of Merriam's Elk existed in the Guadeloupe Moutains of Texas (present herds of elk in the mountains of Texas were released in 1928 from North Dakota. Of the Eastern 'Elk' the last wapiti in Eastern Tennessee was shot in 1849. The last free wapiti in Iowa were recorded in 1871.

The Washington/Oregon population later evolved into two different subspecies, the Olympic elk of the southwestern British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and northwestern Californa; and the Tule Elk of central California. As the Wisconsin Glacial age ended around 10,000 years ago, a population of elk was isolated from the large eastern population and became the now extinct Merriam’s Elk of Mexico and the southwestern United States. As the Great Plains evolved the remainder of the eastern populations became separated again. One of these populations may have evolved with the Great Plains to become the Manitoba Elk. At the same time the eastern population was separating into two more groups, those of the eastern deciduous forests became the now extinct Eastern Elk; those of the western coniferous forests became the Rocky Mountain Elk. These six subspecies inhabited most of North America when the Europeans first arrived.

According to well respected Cervid researcher Dr. Valerius Geist the difference in these subspecies is a result of their environment, the genetic difference being very minute. Because of this he says they will all look alike after a few generations, if they are kept in captivity under similar conditions. He maintains that while crossbreeding does produce hybrid vigor, in which the offspring are larger than either parent, hybrid vigor only lasts for a few generations.

Rocky Mountain Elk

Roosevelt Elk

Manitoba Elk

Tule Elk

In 1932, the herd was given permanent protection in a 950-acre property, now known as Tule Elk State Reserve, near Buttonwillow in central California's Kern County. Tule elk also inhabit adjacent areas of mainly private land. They are smaller than other subspecies, with bulls averaging 500 pounds. The current population is about 2000 animals. Hunting on private land has been reopened in recent years, however there are a very limited number or permits (40?) available for both resident and nonresident hunters. Hunt costs are around $13,000 through the services of an outfitter. The world record non-typical scores 340.

In 1978 tule elk were reintroduced to Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, north of San Francisco. The herd has since grown to over 500 individuals in two herds. Another herd lives in Ohlone Wilderness in Alameda County, a preserve maintained by the East Bay Regional Park District.

External References

• Detailed story of Elk
• Wapiti in Texas.
• Wapiti statistics.

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