Where found: East of Tower Junction along the Lamar River and northward. A herd on Pelican Creek, one ranging in Hayden Valley, and another in the Lower Geyser Basin. During the summer months small numbers may occasionally be seen along the Gibbon River, Madison River, in the Lower Geyser Basin, in Hayden Valley and along the east shore of the lake between Fishing Bridge and Lake Butte. The larger herds go into the higher country during the summer and are seldom seen.
An attempt is made through management operations to maintain a park population of from 1000 to 1200 of these animals.
WAPITI (ELK)
Cervus canadensis
The American Elk or Wapiti is, with the exception of the moose, the largest member of the deer family in North America. Once widely distributed over much of North America it has now been eliminated from most of its former range until now the Yellowstone region has the largest number of wapiti to be found in the world. There are smaller numbers in scattered places in the Rocky Mountains from northern New Mexico to Montana, Idaho, Washington and Manitoba, with small introduced herds in other places.
The elk is the most polygamous of the deer family. In the fall each bull tries to collect the largest harem he can and many spectacular fights result from the clash of rivals that may try to rob each other of a part of the herd. It isn’t long, however, until the bulls forget their rivalry and, leaving the cows, they get together by themselves until the next fall.
Elk
In the past elk were in the habit of feeding up into the mountains during the summer and migrating to lower country for the winter. The westward-moving settlers gradually took over the winter range for agriculture and forced the elk to remain in the mountains throughout the year. Winter hardships have been severe and many of them have died of starvation. This lack of winter range has always been a serious problem in caring for both the northern and southern Yellowstone herds. They depend more upon grass as food than the other members of the deer family.
The cow elk has one, rarely two young at a time, which are born in May and June. At first they are weak and so are kept hidden for several days until able to keep up with their mother. The young are spotted for the first few months, but lose their markings by late summer.
General description: A very large deer with a shaggy mane and short tail. The males with widely branching antlers which are shed annually; females do not have antlers. In color the sexes are slightly different. The males have head and neck a dark chestnut brown, sides and back a yellowish to brownish gray. Females less strongly marked but both with a large straw-colored rump patch. Males much larger than females. Total length. Males 115 inches, height at shoulder 60 inches, weight 700 to 1000 pounds. Females 88 inches in length, 56 inches in height, and 500 to 600 pounds in weight.