Elk

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Elk
Wapiti bull

Wapiti bull

Systematics
without rank: Forehead weapon bearer (Pecora)
Family : Deer (Cervidae)
Subfamily : Cervinae
Tribe : Real deer (Cervini)
Genre : Red deer ( Cervus )
Type : Elk
Scientific name
Cervus canadensis
Erxleben , 1777

The elk ( Cervus canadensis ) is a species of mammal from the deer family (Cervidae). The name includes the animals living in North America including some East Asian subspecies, all of which were previously considered to be subspecies of the red deer . Many elk are significantly larger than European red deer. In the deer family , only the elk is larger.

In North America the species is mostly called elk , while in British English this is the name for the elk, which in North America is called moose . The term Wapiti ( "white rump") comes from the Shawnee - Indians .

Elk have a shoulder height of 0.75 to 1.50 meters and weigh 230 to 450 kilograms. The males are usually about twice as heavy as the females. The antlers of the animals measure 1.0 to 1.5 meters from tip to tip. Elk are known for their loud trumpeting calls during the rutting season .

Way of life

Wapiti deer fighting
Rutting call of an American elk

In the elk, the females live similar to the red deer in larger or smaller herds , which usually follow an older but still childbearing animal. Often weaker and younger males join these herds. These herds are largely true to location; only when they are very worried do the herds move on. In the period preceding the rut , most deer live in large herds, while older deer occasionally roam with a younger deer. Deer usually hold on to their location during this time. In the mating season, the herds break up and the males often move for kilometers to their rutting areas. There there are fights for the females between the top dog and rival, mostly younger males, which can sometimes result in fatal injuries.

The gestation period is about 260 days. The only calf weighs around 15 kilograms at birth and is initially spotted. These spots disappear after about three months. The calf is suckled by the mother for six months. The lifespan is 25 years in captivity, but in the wild elk often die before the age of fifteen. The males in particular have a high mortality rate because of the intensity of their fights and intensive hunting.

The elk is a "grazer", so it primarily feeds on grass , but also eats different foods depending on the conditions. These are mainly young leaves , tubers, acorns , beechnuts , chestnuts , wild fruit , buds and young twig tips from conifers. In winter the animals also eat moss and lichens .

Occurrence

Original (light green) and current distribution area (dark green)

Elk, one of the largest North American wildlife species, live in open or near forests . In summer they rise to great heights in mountain regions, in winter they prefer more protected and lower-lying areas.

The elk used to be widespread in North America, especially in the Rocky Mountains area . The eastern elk ( C. c. Canadensis ) lived in various states east of the Mississippi River . After his extinction by hunting to western elk brought to the area.

The current number of North American elk is estimated at around a tenth of the historical occurrence of ten million. Like other North American game species, the elk reached its lowest point around 1900. Since then, thanks to hunting controls, their number has increased again, although a decline has been observed in some regions over the past ten years (see natural enemies). In 1989 North America was estimated to have an occurrence of 782,500, of which about 72,000 lived in Canada and the rest in the United States . 20,000 lived on elk ranches, where they are kept for their meat and antlers or for hunting.

Most elk live in the west, mainly in the Rocky Mountains region. East of the Mississippi there are only about 3500 elk, spread across seven states. The population is similarly low in eastern Canada.

In Asia, elk live in southern Siberia and parts of Central Asia . They used to be widely used today their range includes only the mountain ranges to the west and east of Lake Baikal , the Sayan Mountains , the Altai Mountains , the Tianshan region and parts of Mongolia and the Amurregion . In the south they are common in Asia in eastern Tibet, in the Himalayas and in central China. Their habitat is similar to that of the North American elk.

US President Theodore Roosevelt gave New Zealand a herd of elk that were released in the southwestern part of the South Island . Today, the real elk are rarely found, as they have crossed with the European red deer, which are very common in New Zealand and which were mainly introduced by British settlers. Many of these animals live in isolation on elk farms and should be released back into the wild at regular intervals. However, this was prevented by a government decision prohibiting the release of alien animals ( neozoa ) in New Zealand today.

Natural enemies

Elk is at risk from Chronic Wasting Disease , a BSE- like disease that is particularly widespread in North America among them and the other American deer species, the white-tailed deer and the mule deer .

Adult elk are hunted by pumas , wolves , grizzly bears and the Siberian tiger . Coyotes and black bears, as well as Eurasian lynx , Canadian lynx and bobcat are capable of killing calves and inexperienced young animals.

Over the past decade, there has been a steady decline in the population in and around Yellowstone National Park . After a long period of research, the American biologists were able to establish a connection with the disappearance of the Yellowstone cutthroat trout . The habitat of the cutthroat trout was increasingly challenged by the non-native American char . Since the trout was the most important source of protein for the grizzly bears living in the national park after hibernation, the animals had to switch to other protein sources and replaced the fish with elk calves. For some time now an attempt has been made to eradicate the American Arctic char in order to restore the original balance.

history

Elk bull with two cows

In North America, the elk probably only appeared 120,000 years ago, when it immigrated from Asia via the Bering Strait in the Ice Age - like the elk and caribou . From there it spread to the south and east. It probably comes from the Altai Maral ( C. e. Sibiricus ), sometimes referred to as the Altai Wapiti, which at that time inhabited large areas of the Siberian taiga .

About 70,000 years ago the elk lived in isolation in four different populations. One was in the Alaska / Yukon region, one in the coastal region of Washington / Oregon , one in western California and the fourth east of the Cascade Range and the Sierra Nevada Mountains, as far as the Appalachians , southern Canada and northern Mexico .

The elk population in Washington / Oregon later split into two different subspecies, the Olympic elk of southwestern British Columbia , Washington, Oregon, and northwestern California; and the Tule elk in central California. Around 10,000 years ago, a population of the elk in the east was isolated and evolved into the Merriam elk, native to Mexico and the southwestern United States. When the plains emerged, another population of elk was isolated in the east and evolved into the Manitoba elk. The elk that remained in the east developed into a subspecies of the eastern elk, while the elk in the west became the rocky mountain elk. When the Europeans conquered North America, these six elk subspecies inhabited the continent.

Elk herd

Elk was already hunted by the Indians . With the arrival of the Europeans and their colonization of the west, however, the need for food increased. The hunt for food was also transformed into a hunt for sport. The bison and elk were particularly affected . The Eastern elk and Merriam elk were soon extinct, the Rocky Mountain elk barely survived. The eastern elk died from excessive hunting, the Merriam elk - also called southwestern elk - both from excessive hunting and from food shortages due to the expanse of deserts. The last Eastern Elk was shot in eastern Tennessee in 1849 .

In the early years of the 20th century, hunting was restricted: elk was only allowed to be shot during the hunting season and then only in limited numbers. These specifications saved the remaining elk as well as the bison from extinction.

Canadian researchers found that elk females acquire various behaviors as they age that make it much more difficult for hunters to successfully track them. They learn from the deadly mistakes of their conspecifics, especially the males.

Systematics

Tule Elk in Point Reyes National Seashore

In the past, the elk was classified as several subspecies of the red deer . According to genetic tests, it is listed as an independent species.

Six North American and two Asian subspecies are accepted. Of the six North American subspecies of the elk, two are already extinct, the Eastern elk ( C. c. Canadensis ) and Merriam's elk ( C. c. Merriami ). The still existing elk subspecies are the Rocky Mountain elk (also Yellowstone elk, C. c. Nelsoni ), the Manitoba elk ( C. c. Manitobensis ), the Olympic elk (also Roosevelt elk, C. c. roosevelti ) and the Tule elk ( C. c. nannodes ). According to the zoologist Valerius Geist , the six subspecies differ due to the living conditions of their environment, the genetic differences are minimal. The two Asian subspecies included the Altai Maral ( C. c. Sibiricus ) and the Tianshan elk ( C. c. Songaricus ).

American and North Asian elk

The species Cervus canadensis includes all North American elk as well as the northern Mongolian and Siberian forms west of Lake Baikal. In the west they reach the Altai Mountains and the Tianshan and Alatau regions. The following subspecies were originally distinguished within this group, but it is possible that they can all be assigned to a single subspecies ( Cervus canadensis canadensis ):

Elk bull in Yellowstone National Park

The Rocky Mountain Elk ( Cervus canadensis nelsoni ) occurs today in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta as well as in the US states of Idaho , Montana , Washington , Oregon , Nevada , Utah , Arizona , New Mexico , Colorado , Wyoming , northern and South Dakota before. Occasionally it can also be found in western Nebraska , northeastern Minnesota and northern Michigan . The Rocky Mountain elk population comprises around 750,000 animals. In Yellowstone National Park alone there are around 30,000 specimens of this subspecies each summer. Contrary to popular belief, the Rocky Mountain Elk is not an animal of the prairie that has retreated to the mountains due to increasing settlement by Europeans. Wapitis used to live in the Rocky Mountains . A bull weighs around 300 to 350 kilograms, a cow around 200 to 250 kilograms. The bulls can reach a shoulder height of 1.5 meters and a body length of 2.5 meters. They are mostly brown with dark brown legs, neck and belly and a light rear part. Bulls can be lighter in color than cows. The bulls' antlers usually have six or more ends on each side.

The Roosevelt Elk ( Cervus canadensis roosvelti ) inhabits northern California and the western part of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia . Some were relocated to Afognak Island , Alaska. Estimates of the entire population vary between 20,000 and 30,000 individuals. Roosevelt elk are larger and darker than Rocky Mountain elk. The bulls can weigh up to 450 kilograms. Their antlers often form a crown or a basket.

The Manitoba elk ( Cervus canadensis manitobensis ) inhabits central Manitoba , eastern Saskatchewan and the Badlands in South Dakota. Many of these Canadian elk are found within or near Riding Mountain National Park , Prince Albert National Park, and Duck Mountain Provincial Park . The coat of the Manitoba elk is darker than that of the Rocky Mountain elk. They're not as big as the Rocky Mountain elk, but more compact, so they're about the same weight. The population is stable at around 10,000 animals.

Tule elk

Large herds of tule elk ( Cervus canadensis nannodes ) used to live in the California Central Valley Grasslands and the California Chaparral and Woodlands in central California. Excessive hunting has greatly reduced them until they were close to extinction. The cattle farmer Henry Miller, who owned large pastures in the southern Central Valley , created a small private reserve to save the subspecies in the 1870s. In 1932, the herd was permanently protected in a 3-mile property near Buttonwillow , California now known as the Tule Elk State Reserve . Other Tule elk can be found in nearby areas, mostly on private land. The Tule elk are smaller than those of the other subspecies, the bulls weigh an average of about 225 kilograms. There are currently around 2000 Tule elk. Hunting on private land has since been allowed again, but is very expensive at $ 13,000 (2004). In 1978, Tule elk were introduced to the Pierce Point Ranch in Point Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco . Another herd resides in the Ohlone Wilderness in Alameda County .

Altai Maral ( C. c. Sibiricus )

The Altai Maral ( Cervus canadensis sibiricus ) or Altai Wapiti inhabits the Altai and Sajan Mountains , northwestern Mongolia and the areas west of Lake Baikal . It is similar to the North American forms and, with a weight of up to 300 kg and a shoulder height of up to 150–155 cm, also reaches their dimensions. The summer dress is plain cinnamon brown; in winter the males are greyish-brown-yellow on the sides, darker cinnamon-brown on the neck, belly and shoulders, and the females are gray-brown. The light coat color on the rear part extends to the croup.

The Tianshan Maral ( Cervus canadensis songaricus ) or Tianshan Wapiti is common in the Tianshan and Alatau regions. It is very similar to and may be identical to the Altai Maral.

North and South Asian elk and isubra deer

Tibetan red deer ( Cervus wallichi )
Isubra deer ( Cervus xanthopygus )

In Asia there are several deer species which, according to genetic findings, are very closely related to the actual elk and are divided into two groups. The Szechuan deer ( Cervus macneilli ) and the Tibetan red deer ( Cervus wallichii ) form a closer family group . Originally the Kashmiri deer ( Cervus hanglu hanglu ) was also included, but according to recent studies it is more closely related to the western red deer of the Cervus elaphus group. Today it is assigned as a subspecies to the Chinese red deer ( Cervus hanglu ), which also includes the Buchara deer ( Cervus hanglu bactrianus ) and the Jarken deer ( Cervus hanglu yarkandensis ).

There is also a more distant relationship to the Alashan elk ( Cervus alashanicus ) and the Isubra deer ( Cervus xanthopygus ). The systematic position of the forms in relation to the actual Wapitis has not yet been fully clarified. Sometimes the Szechuan deer, the Tibetan red deer and the Kashmiri deer were also combined into one species ( Cervus wallichii ), which in German also bore the name "China red deer". A revision of the deer in 2011 recognized the forms mentioned as separate species.

  • The Scechuan deer or MacNeill deer ( Cervus macneilli Lydekker , 1909) lives in China in northern Qinghai , in Gansu , Shaanxi , western Sichuan and in eastern Tibet . Sometimes the northern populations are assigned a separate subspecies, the goose deer ( Cervus macneilli kansuensis ).
  • The Tibetan red deer or Schou ( Cervus wallichii Cuvier , 1823) is common in the Himalayas (southern Tibet and Bhutan ). It was already thought to be extinct but was rediscovered in 1988.
  • The Isubra deer ( Cervus xanthopygus Milne-Edwards , 1867) lives in Siberia east of Lake Baikal, in the Amur region , eastern Mongolia, in North Korea and in North China. Isubra deer reach a shoulder height of 145 cm and a weight of up to 250 kg. The fur is light rust-red in summer and gray-yellow-brown in winter. The large, wide mirror is only a little lighter than the flanks in summer and rust-colored in winter. The antlers are relatively small and have only five to six ends. Transitional forms with characteristics of the Altai Maral have been described from the area of ​​Lake Baikal.
The young antlers of the Isubra deer were supplied by Russian farm breeding of the deer, the "panty", which was still an important Russian export item in the 1930s due to its alleged medicinal properties.

Cultural meaning

Like every animal that was of importance to the Indians, the elk was also incorporated into their mythology , even if it did not achieve the status of, for example, the coyote or the spider . Characteristics such as grace, gentleness and gratitude are ascribed to the elk. In addition, it should be balancing and mediating. He is also known for understanding what it takes to survive.

Various Indian tribes celebrated ceremonies in honor of the elk. Such ceremonies always pursued the purpose of transferring the powers of the elk on themselves. The importance of elk is also reflected in the names of important medicine men of the hunter peoples. Examples of this are the two Lakota Indians Black Elk ("Black Wapiti", also known as "Black Deer") and Elk Head ("Wapiti head").

Today elk are a very popular motif for fetishes , carvings and other handicrafts as well as for painted pictures.

Between the Yellowstone National Park and the village of Cody in Wyoming a valley is named after them Wapiti Valley .

literature

Web links

Commons : Wapiti ( Cervus canadensis )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arthur D. Middleton, Thomas A. Morrison, Jennifer K. Fortin, Charles T. Robbins, Kelly M. Proffitt, PJ White, Douglas E. McWhirter, Todd M. Koel, Douglas G. Brimeyer, W. Sue Fairbanks, Matthew J. Kauffman: Grizzly bear predation links the loss of native trout to the demography of migratory elk in Yellowstone. The Royal Society B 280, 2013, p. 20130870 ( [1] )
  2. ↑ Henrik Thurfjell, Simone Ciuti and Mark S. Boyce: Learning from the mistakes of others: how female elk (Cervus elaphus) adjust behavior with age to avoid hunters. PLoSONE 12 (6), 2017, p. E0178082 doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0178082
  3. ↑ CJ Ludt, W. Schroeder, O. Rottmann, R. Kuehn: Mitochondrial DNA phylogeography of red deer (Cervus elaphus) Archived from the original on April 9, 2008. (PDF) In: Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. . 31, No. 3, June 2004, pp. 1064-83. doi : 10.1016 / j.ympev.2003.10.003 . PMID 15120401 .
  4. ↑ Rita Lorenzini and Luisa Garofalo: Insights into the evolutionary history of Cervus (Cervidae, tribe Cervini) based on Bayesian analysis of mitochondrial marker sequences, with first indications for a new species. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 2015 doi : 10.1111 / jzs.12104
  5. ↑ a b c H. Mahmut, R. Masuda, M. Onuma et al .: Molecular phylogeography of the red deer (Cervus elaphus) populations in Xinjiang of China: comparison with other Asian, European and North American populations . In: Zool. Sci. . 19, No. 4, April 2002, pp. 485-95. PMID 12130826 .
  6. ↑ Christian J. Ludt: Mitochondrial DNA phylogeography of red deer (Cervus elaphus). In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31 (2004) 1064-1083. Elsevier, archived from the original on November 30, 2007 ; Retrieved August 21, 2007 .
  7. ↑ a b Mattioli (2011). Family Cervidae (Deer). (350-443). In: DE Wilson, RA Mittermeier (ed.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 2: Hooved Mammals. Lynx Edicions, 2011. ISBN 978-84-96553-77-4
  8. ↑ Colin Groves and Peter Grubb: Ungulate Taxonomy. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011, pp. 1-317 (pp. 71-107)
  9. ↑ Fritz Schmidt: About the development and structure of Soviet-Russian fur farming . In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt , No. 89, Leipzig November 10, 1934, p. 3.
This article was added to the list of excellent articles on September 10, 2004 in this version .