![]() The longer, darker hair begins appearing on their heads and necks - they have manes again. Summer hair is falling out as the long, thick winter coat begins growing in. The elk don't look like they're shedding in September, but they are. Their summer coat lasts only two short months. This summer coat is a thin, sleek layer of short hair that is the color of copper. By July their winter coat is completely replaced by their summer coat. Their spring shedding is noticeable because ragged tatters of old winter hair dangle like long scraggly beards from their necks and sides. Twice a year, they shed every hair on their body. Their coats help them regulate their body temperatures. Elk have only two coats-one for summer and one for winter. How do they do it? After all, they don't have the luxury of peeling off a shirt or zipping up a parka. Somehow they have to keep their body temperature steady no matter how extreme the weather. Over the course of a year, elk may experience temperatures ranging from 100° F (38° C) to minus 40° F (minus 40° C). Rocky Mountain (Rocky Mountain West, now transplanted to other locations) – largest antlers of all subspecies There is no evidence to conclude that elk CWD is transmutable to humans, and research concerning CWD and its effect on the eco-system continues. CWD affects the brain tissue of infected elk and is similar in symptoms to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad-cow disease (MCD). The Rocky Mountain Elk herd has been diagnosed with a serious disorder called Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). The elk population, while taxing the common food resources, also adversely affects native species that share the same food supply, such as the indigenous beavers. Several indigenous butterfly and plant species are harmed, especially the aspen groves that the elk herd of perhaps 3,000 animals decimates in its search for food. The Rocky Mountain National Park and the Estes Park environments are physically disrupted by the migration of the elk, ranging in size from calves to full-grown 700-pound adults. and North America have local, state, and federal policy makers searching for solutions. While overhunting is a significant contributing factor, the elk’s near extinction is mainly attributed to human encroachment and destruction of their natural habitats and migratory corridors.Īs of 2010, environmental and Chronic Wasting Disease problems in Estes Park, Colorado and on a greater scale throughout the Western U.S. The Rocky Mountain elk was re-introduced in 1913 to Colorado from Wyoming after the near extinction of the regional herds. The total wild population is about one million individuals. In the summer it migrates to the subalpine forests and alpine basins. The winter ranges are most common in open forests and floodplain marshes in the lower elevations. states have reintroduced small elk herds into heavily wooded wilderness areas.The Rocky Mountain elk ( Cervus canadensis nelsoni) is a subspecies of elk found in the Rocky Mountains and adjacent ranges of Western North America. Today they live primarily in western North America, especially in mountainous landscapes such as Wyoming's National Elk Refuge and Yellowstone National Park. ![]() Population DistributionĮlk were once found across much of North America but they were killed off and driven to take refuge in more remote locations. ![]() The herds return to lower valley pastures where elk spend the season pawing through snow to browse on grass or settling for shrubs that stand clear of the snow cover. In the winter, elk reconvene into larger herds, though males and females typically remain separate. ![]() Males with the bigger antlers, typically older animals, usually win these battles and dominate small herds. These powerful animals strip the velvet off their new antlers using them in violent clashes that determine who gets to mate with whom. Antlers and Matingĭuring the late summer breeding season the bugling of bull elk echoes through the mountains. Each cow typically has a single calf, which can stand by the time it is 20 minutes old. In early summer, elk migrate to high mountain grazing grounds where the cows (females) will give birth. ![]() Preparation for Breeding Seasonīull elk lose their antlers each March, but they begin to grow them back in May in preparation for the late-summer breeding season. A bull (male) elk's antlers may reach 4 feet above its head, so that the animal towers 9 feet tall. Elk are also called wapiti, a Native American word that means “light-colored deer.” Elk are related to deer but are much larger than most of their relatives. ![]()
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