Rocky Mountain Cow Elk
by Priscilla Burgers
Title
Rocky Mountain Cow Elk
Artist
Priscilla Burgers
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Image is a cow elk chowing down at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. North American elk, or wapiti, were once plentiful in the Rocky Mountain National Park area. As Euro- Americans settled the Estes Valley, they hunted elk intensively, sending much of the meat to market in Denver. By 1890 few, if any, elk remained. In 1913 and 1914, before the establishment of the park, the Estes Valley Improvement Association and United States Forest Service transplanted 49 elk from Yellowstone National Park to this area. Around the same time, an all-out effort began to eliminate predators, including the gray wolf and the grizzly bear. The resulting decrease in predators probably hastened the recovery of Rocky's elk population. Today, Elk number about 1 million in North America. Currently, the Park's elk population fluctuates between 600 and 800 in the winter. Accelerating development along the park boundary is diminishing open space and blocking traditional migration routes, thus decreasing winter forage and habitat. Cows, calves and yearlings live in loose herds or groups. Rocky Mountain cow elk weigh 500 pounds. They average 4 1/2 feet at the shoulder and 6 1/2 feet from nose to tail.
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Versatile Photography Group-9/17/2013
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Comfortable Art Group-9/20/2013
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All COLORADO Group - 08/25/2014
Uploaded
September 17th, 2013
Statistics
Viewed 386 Times - Last Visitor from Mount Laurel, NJ on 04/12/2024 at 6:07 AM
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