Elk
The wapiti, or elk, is the largest of Colorado’s native deer.
About This Species
The wapiti, or elk, is the largest of Colorado’s native deer. Commonly called "elk" in this country, wapiti is a preferred name because elsewhere in the world "elk" refers to the animal Americans call moose. Our wapiti is a Holarctic species, which means it occurs in both North America and Eurasia; in Eurasia it is known as the red deer. Whatever we choose to call it, this is an impressive and important animal in Colorado.
Diseases
Chronic Wasting Disease and Acidosis
There are two diseases fatal to animals that can easily spread when congregating over feed: acidosis and chronic wasting disease.
Chronic Wasting Disease
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an always-fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk and moose. “Prions” (pree-ons), the proteins that cause the disease, are in the saliva, feces and carcasses of infected animals, meaning the disease can spread by direct or indirect contact with an infected animal. CWD is not caused by a virus or bacteria — and so cannot be treated or prevented with vaccination. This makes it a serious threat to the health and long-term sustainability of herds if not controlled through active management.
Acidosis
Acidosis is a severe and often fatal disease that affects deer, elk, bighorn sheep, moose and pronghorn. It occurs when these animals eat an excessive amount of high-carbohydrate food, which causes dangerous levels of acid to accumulate in their stomachs. Acidosis can affect any ruminant species, including cattle, sheep and goats.
Conservation and Research
Bringing Elk Back to Colorado
In the 1900s only 40,000 elk remained in all of North America. The elk's dramatic demise was attributed to unregulated market hunting. The dedication of CPW staff and our conservation partners have brought this incredible species back through rigorous studies and relocation efforts and have managed to grow elk populations back to the thriving numbers Colorado enjoys today. At over 280,000 animals, Colorado’s elk population is the largest in the world.
50
In 1916, Colorado imported 50 elk from Wyoming to re-establish dwindling herds. The elk were transported and released in Idaho Springs and the Greenhorn Mountains in Pueblo County.
280,000
The number of elk in Colorado in the mid 2020s.
Researching and Protecting Elk
Colorado Parks and Wildlife, in cooperation with partner groups, continues to conduct research, protect key winter range and migration corridors and improve statewide habitat to ensure Colorado's elk herds remain abundant for future generations.
About the Project
In Colorado, elk (Cervus canadensis) are an important natural resource valued for ecological, consumptive, aesthetic, and economic reasons. In 1910, Colorado had less than 1,000 elk; today, the state population is estimated to be the largest in the country, with more than 290,000 elk. Over the last two decades, however, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has become increasingly concerned about declining calf recruitment (the number of calves making it to adulthood).
In 2017, researchers began a 2-year pilot study to investigate factors influencing elk recruitment in two study areas in the state. The initial pilot project was expanded into a 3rd study area and the research continues to better understand elk population dynamics in Colorado and determine how predators, habitat, and weather conditions are impacting elk recruitment in Colorado.
Study Objectives
- Estimate calf and adult female survival and cause-specific mortality rates
- Quantify pregnancy rates and nutritional condition
- Evaluate factors influencing survival, pregnancy rates, and nutritional condition
Video: Emblems of the West, CPW
- Modeling elk-to-livestock transmission risk to predict hotspots of brucellosis spillover
- Migration, movements, and survival in a partially migratory elk (Cervus canadensis) population
- Elk Balance Threats from Humans, Cougars, and Wolves by Shifting Habitat use Between Day and Night
- Experimental SARS-CoV-2 Infection of Elk and Mule Deer
- Elk conservation : Response of elk to human recreation at multiple scales: demographic shifts and behaviorally mediated fluctuations in local abundance
- Quantifying impacts of recreation on elk (Cervus canadensis) using novel modeling approaches
- Existing evidence on the effects of climate variability and climate change on ungulates in North America: a systematic map
- Cougars, wolves, and humans drive a dynamic landscape of fear for elk
- Wildlife friendly fence designs and elk fence crossing behavior
- Pilot study: Elk recruitment and habitat use in Colorado (2017-2018)
- Evaluating factors influencing elk recruitment in Colorado (2019-current)
- Hierarchy in structuring of resource selection: understanding elk selection across space, time, and movement strategies
- Drivers of spring migration phenology in Rocky Mountain elk
More Information:
Physical Characteristics
Bull elk can weigh up to 900 pounds and are 4 1/2 feet tall at the shoulder and 6 1/2 feet long, with cows weighing 400-600 pounds, 5 feet tall, and 8 feet long.
Elk are a deep copper brown with a lighter colored rump and lower legs.
Bull elk have bifurcating (forking) antlers that can weigh up to 40 pounds, with the main beams of around 55 inches.
Wapiti have two upper incisors called ivories that are the remnants of ancient tusks.
Range
Wapiti range throughout mountainous parts of the state, foraging in meadows and alpine tundra. Wapiti are gregarious animals, sometimes moving in herds of several hundred individuals.
Habitat
Before the arrival of European settlers, wapiti ranged nearly throughout the area that is now Colorado, including the eastern plains. Market hunting nearly drove Colorado's elk to extinction. By 1910 only a few hundred elk remained; restoration of the herds was helped by transplanting elk from Yellowstone.
Diet
Wapiti are grazers; that is, they eat mostly grasses, when available. In summer, the diet may be 80 to 90 percent grasses. Bark and twigs of trees and shrubs may contribute half the winter diet. Wapiti sometimes congregate at haystacks in severe weather.
Reproduction
Mating is over by mid-October. Usually a single, obscurely spotted calf is born in May or June, after a gestation period of 8 1/2 months. Females breed first at 3 years of age, males about four. In the fall rut, bulls spar for dominance and possession of harems of several cows. Colorado boasts the largest population of elk of any state and hunters harvest many thousands each year.
Threats to Species
- Vehicle conflict
- Disease
- Poaching