Wapiti

Wapiti (Cervus elaphus) are the second largest deer (cervid) in the world, second only to the Moose. They are known as 'Elk' in North America. Wapiti is the Shawnee name for this animal. Wapiti are related to European red deer.

One of the largest North American game animals, richly-flavored and low in cholesterol, they live in open forest and near forest edges in similar environments 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.

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 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 cubs.

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.

External reference

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