Elk

By Steve Kilger - Jul 11, 2003

Common Name: Elk

Latin Name: Cervus elaphus

Range: large populations are found only in the western United States from Canada through the Eastern Rockies to New Mexico

Mature Weight: 230 to 450 kg

Diet: grasses, sedges, and forbs in summer and woody growth in fall

Description: dark brown in winter to tan in summer ,widely branching antlers as long as 1.1-1.5 m from tip to tip

Notes: elk are very social animals; they live in summer herds with as many as 400 individuals …inactive during the day and the middle of the night… matriarchical and are dominated by a single cow

Source: http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/index.html

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