Elk in Yellowstone National Park
The elk or wapiti is the most abundant of the large mammals in Yellowstone Park and can be seen year-round. During the summer months, elk can usually be found in the Lamar Valley and in the northwest sector of the Park.
The Mammoth and Gardiner area, located at a relatively low elevation, provides forage for elk throughout the year and gives the visitor of any season ample viewing opportunities. Some elk in Yellowstone National Park stay near thermal areas during all seasons because the warmth from under the ground keeps snow melted and plants growing even in the coldest of winters.
Elk range in forest and forest-edge habitat, feeding on grasses, plants, leaves, and bark. When thirsty elk are drawn to water holes — springs, seeps, lakes, creeks but they can also get all the water they need by sipping dew and eating juicy plants. Elk will also eat snow to quench their thirst.
Elk (Cervus Canadensis)
Often times reaching the size of a large horse, elk are four to five feet high at the shoulder. Only the males have antlers, which may grow to four feet long and weigh up to 40 pounds. While actively growing, the antlers are covered with and protected by a soft layer of highly vascularized skin known as velvet. The velvet is shed in the summer when the antlers have fully developed. Bull (male) elk may have eight or more tines on each antler; however, the number of tines has little to do with the age or maturity of a particular animal.
Mating
During the fall, elk grow a thicker coat of light brownish hair, which helps to insulate them during the winter. Bulls, cows (females) and calves all grow thin neck manes. Elk can range in size from 325-1100 pounds.
Mating season takes place in the fall. This is the time when the bulls engage in ritualized mating behaviors which includes posturing, antler wrestling, and bugling; a loud series of screams which establishes dominance over other males and attracts females. This bugle call is one of the most distinctive calls in nature.
Females are attracted to the males that bugle more often and have the loudest call. A bull will defend his harem of 20 cows or more from competing bulls and predators. When a cow is in her second year and around 450 pounds, she is in her optimal reproductive phase. Females form large herds from 50-100 individuals after the mating season.
Calves
A calf will be born about 8 and a half months after mating season weighing in at around 35 pounds. When the females are near to giving birth, they tend to isolate themselves from the main herd and will remain isolated until the calf is large enough to escape predators. Calves are born spotted, as is common with many deer species, and they lose their spots by the end of summer.
The offspring will remain with their mothers for almost a year, leaving about the time that the next season's offspring are produced. Newborn calves are kept close by a series of vocalizations; larger nurseries have an ongoing and constant chatter during the daytime hours.
Self defense
When approached by predators, the largest and most robust females may make a stand, using their front legs to kick at their attackers. Guttural grunts and posturing effectively deter all but the most determined predators. Wolf and coyote packs and the solitary cougar are the most likely predators. In Yellowstone Park bears are the most significant predators of calves. Elk live 10 to 13 years in the wild.
Wapiti and Native Americans
The name wapiti is derived from the Cree “waapiti, it is their name for the “light colored elk” that wandered through their lands. Elk have played an important role in the cultural history of a number of Native American peoples. Pictographs and petroglyphs of elk were carved into cliffs thousands of years ago by the Anasazi of the south-western U.S.
More recent Native American tribes, including the Kootenai, Cree, Blackfeet, Ojibwa and Pawnee, produced blankets and robes from thick elk hides. Early Native Americans probably made a variety of tools and other items from elk, but archaeologists have found few remains.
The elk was of particular importance to the Lakota, and played a spiritual role in their society. At birth, Lakota males were given an elk's tooth to promote a long life since that was seen as the last part of dead elk to rot away. The elk was seen as having strong sexual potency and young Lakota males who had dreamed of elk would have an image of the mythical representation of the elk on their "courting coats" as a sign of sexual prowess.
The Lakota believed that the mythical or spiritual elk, not the physical one, was the teacher of men and the embodiment of strength, sexual prowess and courage.
Elk was also spiritually important to the Oglala, a tribe of the Great Plains. They considered elk a dominant spirit animal and associated it with love and passion, strength, courage, persistence and swiftness. Members of the elk dream cults shared a vision of elk and would dance in steps and with cries that imitated elk.
Elk In Yellowstone Park: Past And Present
Elk populations saw a rapid decline in the 1800s as new settlements grew and spread and hunting was encouraged for a few prized products. The elk's hide, its antlers and sometimes the canine teeth (elk canines are made of ivory) were in high demand.
Yellowstone National Park has a unique place in the history of elk management. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all the elk left in North America were in or near Yellowstone. From this nucleus of elk, transplants were relocated all across the United States and parts of Canada to initiate a recovery that is a classic wildlife management success story. Today, the largest migratory elk herd in the United States is linked to Yellowstone.
Although elk will probably never return to their historic numbers nor to all of their historic range, far more elk inhabit the United States than at any other time in the last 100 years. In an ecosystem undisturbed by humans, elk populations will fluctuate depending on the quality of their habitat, so protecting their habitat is key to ensuring the survival of elk and the other wildlife that we all enjoy.
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