Elk

Fascinating facts about the Elk

• Elk antlers sprout faster than a garden hose can fill a bucket, up to 2.5 cm (0.98 in) each day, so a growing set can add a foot of bone in just two weeks. A mature Roosevelt bull's rack can tip the scales at 18 kg (40 lb), turning its head into a living battering ram. This rapid, massive growth is fueled by a velvet-covered, blood-rich skin that supplies nutrients, then drops off in summer. The speed and size of antlers reveal how elk channel testosterone into a seasonal weapon that decides dominance and mating success.
• The Roosevelt elk is the heavyweight champion of deer, with males that can tip the scales at up to 600 kg (1,300 lb) in Alaska, while typical males range from 318 to 499 kg (701 to 1,100 lb). This makes them the second-largest deer species on Earth, dwarfing a typical adult moose's cousin, the white-tailed deer.
• Elk migrations, with some herds covering up to 168 mi (270 km) between summer high-altitude pastures and winter valleys. This seasonal trek follows the retreating snowpack.
• A bull's bugle can pierce the forest at a pitch of 4,000 Hz, while deeper calls sit around 150 Hz. This whistle, broadcasting a male's fitness to rivals and potential mates.
• In summer, elk form some of the biggest deer gatherings on the planet, with groups swelling to 400 individuals.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Elk

As autumn frosts settle on the Rocky Mountains, bull elk fill the valleys with their haunting bugle calls, one of the most stirring sounds in North American wilderness. These magnificent deer are animals of superlatives: antlers that grow faster than any other tissue, bodies that tip the scales at 350 kg, and migrations that cross entire mountain ranges. Their return to many western landscapes is a conservation success story still being written.

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