During the 1970s and 1980s, restoring Kentucky’s wildlife became a priority for the state’s conservation department, but it took another decade before it focused on elk. Wait, Kentucky? That’s an eastern state! Elk Return to KentuckyĮlk and many other native species were extirpated from Kentucky by the 1850s. New Mexico, Utah and Washington have 50,000 to 80,000 elk, and Arizona, Nevada, California and Kentucky have 10,000 to 25,000 elk. Elk in Montana, Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming number between 100,000 and 150,000. Today, Colorado has the largest herd in the United States, about 300,000 animals. In 1925, the Izaak Walton League bought 1,760 acres of private land in Wyoming to expand that refuge to 3,520 acres and donated more land in 1927. Other western national parks and the National Elk Refuge in Wyoming gave further protection to the remaining elk. In 1872, with the establishment of Yellowstone National Park, elk got a much-needed safety zone. By the late 1800s, elk survived only in the most remote parts of the Rocky Mountains and other western mountain ranges. Market hunters slaughtered innumerable elk simply for their ivories. What’s more, jewelers adorned watch fobs with elk ivories (the two molars elk use to grind up grasses and nuts). European settlers and Native Americans sought these large animals, which could weigh over 800 pounds, for their mild meat. ![]() Two centuries later, the eastern subspecies was extinct due to overhunting. While that’s true today, historically elk roamed across most of the United States, including the Great Plains and the eastern forests.Įastern elk populations peaked in the 1600s. Elk are an iconic antlered animal typically identified with the rugged western mountains.
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