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Elk Calf Feeding

Elk Calf Feeding was a photograph that was taken on a sunny fall morning in Yellowstone National Park.  The Elk Calf Feeding is a Rocky Mountain Elk and is a mammal that is a member of the Deer family.

Elk calves are born at a weight of around 35 pounds.  They are born in late May through early June.   Calving time, in late spring and early summer, is a period when cow elk especially need a safe place with good food and water and little disturbance by humans.

Cows, calves and yearlings live in loose herds or groups for most of the year.  In the fall of the year (during the rut) cows and calves form harems with one or two mature bulls.

The elk that live in North America today are direct descendants of red deer from Asia.  Red deer entered North America long before humans did, perhaps as early as 120,000 years ago .  Prior to European settlement, more than 10 million elk roamed nearly all of the United States and parts of Canada.  Today, about one million elk live in the western United States, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina, and from Ontario west in Canada.

Elk Calf Feeding seemed like a unique opportunity for me to photograph Elk behavior.

Elk are one of the most popular animals to observe animal behavior.  People flock to parks and locations to view the elk species and their behavior.

Elk are among the most intensely studied animals. Scientists watch elk; count elk; they trap and take measurements, blood, and other samples from elk.

Although elk will probably never return to their historic numbers nor to all of their historic range, far more elk inhabit the United States than at any other time in the last 100 years.

Elk Calf Feeding is an example of a young Elk that is part of a healthy Elk population.