10 Essential Facts About Elk

The male elk is one of North America’s biggest animals and can weigh over 700 pounds. Females are often lighter, weighing in at roughly 500 pounds. However, they usually lose weight during the winter mating season. Elk are also known by their traditional name, “wapiti,” which means “white rump,” which the Shawnee people gave them because of the animal’s light patch of beige fur on its dark brown body. Check out the following ten incredible facts demonstrating elk’s uniqueness.

1. People Mistake Elk for Moose

People often mistake these animals, probably because they look alike in some ways. However, there are several morphological differences between an elk and a moose, but their size and the form of their antlers are the most noticeable. Moose are the larger of the two, growing up to 6.5 feet tall at the shoulder, whereas elk are typically three to five feet tall. The antlers of male moose are also wider and flatter, but the antlers of male elk are longer and have tips that stick out.

Their social structure is the most obvious way to distinguish between them. Moose are far more solitary and prefer to spend their time alone, but elk, on the other hand, roam in vast groups, which can be referred to as herds or gangs.

2. Elk Are the Most Vocal Members of the Deer Family

Another interesting fact about elk is their loud nature. During mating season, male elk use their high-pitched roar, called “bugling,” to attract female partners. This loud, booming sound, which has a fundamental frequency of 2 kHz or more, is also employed to promote, establish, and defend territory in the winter. No other member of the deer family has the same vocal abilities as elk.

3. Female Elk Do Not Have Antlers

Even if you come across a thousand elk in herds, know that the females among them lack antlers. Only male elk possess antlers, unlike other deer species such as reindeer. They grow their distinctive antlers in the spring and shed them each winter. During their growth, elk antlers are coated with velvet (a delicate layer of skin) that sheds when the temperature warms up in the summer. During the mating season, male elk use their antlers to compete with one another. They lower their heads and clash antlers with other males to establish dominance and attract females.

4. For Elk, Cold Is Better Than Heat

Elk enjoy the cool days over the hot ones. They are usually more active when the day or weather becomes more relaxed, regardless of where they live. Elk are more likely to be seen in the winter, early spring, and fall (during the mating season). For instance, at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa, elk spend most of their summer foraging in the early mornings and late evenings to escape the heat.

5. Elk Chew Cud Like Cows

As herbivores, elk graze on sedges, grasses, and herbaceous blooming plants in the summer, while in the winter, they feed on woody vegetation such as jack pine, cedar, and red maple. They are ruminant animals, which means they regurgitate food and continue to chew it to facilitate digestion. According to research conducted in the Rocky Mountains in 2006, elk repeatedly forage in many of the same sites as cattle do in the fall and summer. For this reason, cattle and elk overlap more than 60% of each other’s territory.

6. Elk Help Restore Ecosystems

Through their feeding, grazing, and foraging, elk play a vital role in changing the communities of plants within their habitats. Elk, like bison, have been brought to various national wildlife refuges to aid in the restoration of grass prairie ecosystems. They primarily eat wildflowers and grass, but like deer, they also graze on trees and shrubs. This helps to promote and stimulate the growth of prairie plants while regulating shrub and tree overgrowth.

7. Elk Keep Their Calves Hidden After They’re Born

Elk babies are concealed during the first couple of days of their lives. Female elk seek out a hidden spot in thick brush or long grass to hide their offspring and keep them concealed from predators. To avoid attracting predators, calves are born with very little or no scent, and they also have white dots that effectively hide them by breaking up their appearance and acting as camouflage.

8. Elk Are Not Endangered 

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species classifies elk as “Least Concern” because of their massive population count. Their populations have continued to increase significantly due to conservation efforts by the Department of Natural Resources and some private individuals. For instance, in 1875, the Californian subspecies, tule elk, had declined to fewer than five animals. However, the numbers have now increased to more than 5,500 individuals.

9. Elk Can Live Up to 20 Years

Unlike several other deer species, elk naturally live longer in captivity than in the wild. They have an average lifespan of 10 to 13 years in the wild, while they may live up to 20 years in captivity.

10. Elk Are Social Animals

Incredibly, elk live and move about in large groups (herds) that might number hundreds or even thousands. While herds are divided by gender, elk are highly matriarchal, meaning the herd is led by a dominant female.