Extinct Elk

[ishootaRUM300]

OK I know I am getting this information from wikipedia, but I just wanted to look them up and see what they looked like and compare them to the elk we have today. What I found under the Manitoban elk was that they claim that they were driven into near extinction by 1900, but has recovered since.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manitoban_elk

They give no references for their claim that the Manitoban elk may still exist. So it is hard to validate this claim.

So I they went to the Eastern elk and tere is a similar story about them having had been gifted to Fiordland National Park in New Zealand In 1905, 18 elk were introduced a gift from Theodore Roosevelt. They go on to say that the odds of a pure bloodline is very low.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_elk

I did read some of the references for the Eastern elk and they give some good supporting evidence that they could still exist.

I guess I am just wondering if anybody has anymore information on this or any opinions on this?

 

[elkslam]

Merriams elk are suppose to be extinct as well. They were suppose to have the largest antlers of all the elk species.

 

[hank4elk]

I think I read somewhere that Manitoban elk are still around in Saskatchawan. Not many if so. And Merriams are extinct,since early 1900's. I think its the habitat and minerals in the SW that produces the huge elk. The biggest racks and elk I've ever seen are here in SW. They are transplanted Rocky Mtn. elk.

 

[RJ]

How would you like to hunt these bad boys

 

[theox]

that thing looks half moose half elk

 

[eldorado]

Irish Elk?

Eldorado

 

[travishunter3006]

I did a small research on these Irish Elk at one time. It is believed that evolution killed these animals. The overall consensus was that the larger the antlers, the higher probability of being accepted by a female, etc.

Eventually these elk grew such large antlers that they were unable to support them and could not outrun predators,etc...

Kind of a cool research if you like to learn about this kinda stuff.

 

[wildwilderness]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-29-12 AT 09:58AM (MST)[p]In europe "Elk" is a "moose" in American English. While our "elk" is a red deer.

 

[MAT]

Those big antlers made it easier for our ancestors to hunt them, which they did. There is a theory called "overkill" that the appearance of modern man doomed the mega fauna of the late Pleistocene by hunting them to extinction. Damn near happened again when the European settlers came to North America too.

 

[Hunter1]

Antlers up to 12 feet wide!!!

 

[Servehim]

I think I read somewhere that Manitoban elk are still around in Saskatchawan. Not many if so. And Merriams are extinct,since early 1900's. I think its the habitat and minerals in the SW that produces the huge elk. The biggest racks and elk I've ever seen are here in SW. They are transplanted Rocky Mtn. elk.

I've heard theories that some Merriam elk did survive and later breed with the transplanted Rocky Mtn elk , hence the larger antlers.