![]() They prefer the higher elevations from 7,000 to about 10,000 feet which is referred to as their "summer range". Arizona HabitatĮlk inhabit forested areas at high altitude within a range where a water source is nearby. By September, the calves have shed their juvenile spotted coats. Within hours, a newborn calf can move and is led from the birthing spot to a safer place.Īfter a week, the female will band with other females and after two to three weeks the calves, now able to run, will join the group creating herds numbering in the hundreds. At birth, calves average nearly 30 pounds with males averaging 4 pounds more than cows. She will drive off last year's calf only weeks before parturition. Harems may number up to 30, depending on the vigor of the bull, but usually average 15 to 20 cows.Īfter mating, the cow will separate from the herd and seek out dense cover to prepare as a nursery. ![]() By early September, the bull is ready for the rut (mating). The velvet is stripped off in a matter of hours and the elk polishes its antlers against trees. The velvet dries up and the antlers harden. Cows do not have antlers.īy early August, antler growth is complete. Therefore it's possible to see yearlings with old spikes at the same time as bulls with a foot of velvet. The growing period ranges from 90 days for yearlings to 150 days for adult bulls. New growth occurs shortly after the cast. The antler cast occurs in January to March for adult bulls and from March through May for sub-adults. They have been know to live as long 25 years. Elk are strong swimmers and can leap vertically 8 to 10 feet.Ī bull elk's average life span is 14 to 16 years and the cows average a year longer. Elks can attain speeds up to 40 miles per hour over short distances and can sustain speeds of 30 miles per hour for long periods. They are the second largest animal in the deer family with the moose being the largest. Even with harvesting via licensed hunting, today the Arizona elk population has grown to about 35,000.Ī large bull elk can weigh up to 1,200 pounds but average from 600 to 800 pounds and an adult cow will range from 450 to 600 pounds. In 1913, 83 elk from Yellowstone were transplanted in Arizona near Chevelon Lake in the Arizona White Mountains region. Because of settler expansion and market hunting, the total North American elk population had dwindled to about 90,000 by 1922 and about 40,000 of those were concentrated in the Yellowstone Park area. Before European settlers migrated to North America, there were an estimated 10 million elk spread through every part of the continent except the Great Basin Desert and the Southern coastal plains.
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