![]() Starting in 1913 and ending in 1926, the Commission released 177 elk in 10 counties, including 50 animals from Yellowstone. The recently formed Pennsylvania Game Commission took Yellowstone officials up on their offer, and launched a program to reintroduce elk to Pennsylvania. Not long after the last elk was killed in Pennsylvania, federal officials, worried about mushrooming elk herds in and around Yellowstone National Park, offered the animals to anyone willing to take them. Eastern elk were extirpated from South Carolina in 1737, Georgia in 1770, North Carolina in 1780, Maryland and Vermont in 1800, New Jersey in 1805, Arkansas and Quebec in 1830, Indiana and Ohio in 1840, Louisiana in 1842, New York in 1847, Illinois and Kentucky in 1850, Virginia in 1855, Tennessee in 1865, Pennsylvania in 1868, West Virginia and Wisconsin in 1875, Michigan in 1880, Iowa in 1885, Minnesota in 1896, and Missouri in 1898. Prehistoric evidence of eastern elk from 2500 years ago has been found in Alabama and Delaware. Mitochondrial DNA studies in 2004 indicate that Cervus canadensis are a species distinct from European red deer. What little is known about this race of elk has been gleaned from remains and historical references. By the end of the 19th century, the eastern elk was completely extinct. Naturalist John James Audubon reportedly mentioned that by 1851, a few elk could still be found in the Allegheny Mountains, but that they were virtually gone from the remainder of their range. As people continued to settle in the region over the next few centuries, elk populations decreased due to over-hunting and the loss of their dense woodland habitat. Eastern elk inhabited the vast forests of the Eastern Woodlands region as far west as the Mississippi River. Description Ī full-grown bull could weigh up to 1,000 pounds, stand 50-60 inches tall at the shoulder, and carry a rack of antlers six feet in length.Īt the start of the European colonization of the Americas in the late 15th century, elk were widespread in North America and could be found throughout most of the continent. in the form of the Rocky Mountain elk, introduced to the region in the 20th century. If this is accurate, this means that the subspecies is not extinct, and has returned to the eastern U.S. Another subspecies of elk, the Merriam's elk, also became extinct at roughly the same time.Īs of 2017, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has reclassified all North American elk subspecies aside from the tule and Roosevelt elk as C. The subspecies was declared extinct by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 1880. The last eastern elk was shot in Pennsylvania on September 1, 1877. 164ft.).ġ4 points means that the bull needs 7 points (ends) on each antler.The eastern elk ( Cervus canadensis canadensis) is an extinct subspecies or distinct population of elk that inhabited the northern and eastern United States, and southern Canada. Harvest a male Rocky Mountain Elk with more than 14 typical points using a blind, tower, stand or shooting tripod rest from less than 50m (approx.Harvest a female Rocky Mountain Elk with. ![]()
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