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Cervus elaphus

(American Elk)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Chinese:

Hangul, Shou

Common Names in Dutch:

Edelhert

Common Names in English:

American Elk, Bactrian Deer, Bactrian Red Deer, Bactrian Wapiti, Bokharan Deer, Bukhara Red Deer, Elk, European red deer, Maral, Red Deer, wapiti, wapiti or elk

Common Names in French:

Cerf De Bactriane, Cerf ?laphe, Cerf ?laphe Du Turkestan, Cerf Du Turkestan, Cerf elaphe, Cerf Rouge Du Turkestan, wapiti

Common Names in German:

Edelhirsch, Rothirsch

Common Names in Russian:

Олень благородный (красный)

Common Names in Spanish:

Ciervo, Ciervo Bactriano, Ciervo colorado, Ciervo Com, Ciervo común, Ciervo común, Ciervo Rojo

Description

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Physical Description

Species Cervus elaphus

Male American Elk sport large antlers. A rack of antlers can weight 30 pounds and measure 5' across, and require special neck muscles to support them. Large antlers suggest good health -- important information for a female selecting a mate.

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 3,248 meters (0 to 10,656 feet).[1]

Ecology: It inhabits open deciduous woodland, upland moors and open mountainous areas (sometimes above the treeline), natural grasslands, pastures and meadows (Koubek and Zima 1999). In woodland, its diet consists mainly of shrub and tree shoots , but in other habitats it also consumes grasses, sedges and shrubs.Generally found in mountainous regions, where it spends summers in alpine meadows and winters in valleys. On more level terrain, seeks wooded hillsides in summer, open grasslands in winter. In the USA, Pacific coast populations are more sedentary than are those elsewhere. Migrates from areas with deep snow. Some individuals in Jackson Hole , Wyoming, migrate up to 97 kilometers annually (Adams 1982).Bushes and trees are critical for protection from predators such as wolves, and as an important source of food during the winter in the form of browse (Chen et al., 1998). During the September-October rut , Mongolian populations of red deer congregate in large groups and are more often found in open lowland areas (Dulamtseren et al. 1989).Found in China up to 5,000 m , animals come lower into valleys in winter. They live in small herds of females and young, gathering into larger herds in winter. Stags live singly or form all male herds in summer, but gather harems in rut season in late summer, without obvious territories. Natural lifespan is about 15 years, but a captive animal lived up to almost 27 years. Calving occurs in June-July following a gestation of 235 days. Females drop single calves in late spring . Young are mature at 1.5-2.5 years.[2].

List of Habitats:

[more info]

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Cervus elaphus (Linnaeus 1758) • Cervus elaphus Linnaeus

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Cervus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 47 species and subspecies in this genus:

C. albirostris (White-Lipped Deer) · C. alfredi (Philippine Spotted Deer) · C. capreolus (Red Deer) · C. cervus elaphus (European Red Deer) · C. duvaucelii (Swamp Deer) · C. duvaucelii branderi (Upland Barasingha) · C. duvaucelii duvaucelii (Swamp Deer) · C. elaphus (American Elk) · C. elaphus affinis (Elk) · C. elaphus alashanicus (Alashan Wapiti) · C. elaphus bactrianus (Bactrian Deer) · C. elaphus barbarus (Atlas Deer) · C. elaphus canadensis (American Wapiti) · C. elaphus corsicanus (Corsican Red Deer) · C. elaphus elaphus (Wapiti) · C. elaphus hanglu (Elk) · C. elaphus macneilli (Macneill's Red Deer) · C. elaphus merriami (Merriam's Elk) · C. elaphus nannodes (Elk) · C. elaphus nelsoni (Elk) · C. elaphus roosevelti (Roosevelt Elk) · C. elaphus wallichi (Shou) · C. elaphus yarkandensis (Yarkand Deer) · C. eldii (Eld's Brow-Antlered Deer) · C. eldii eldii (Manipur Brow-Antlered Deer) · C. eldii siamensis (Thailand Brow-Antlered Deer) · C. eldii thamin (Burmese Brow-Antlered Deer) · C. mariannus (Philippine Brown Deer) · C. nannodes (Tule Elk) · C. nippon (Japanese Deer) · C. nippon aplodontus (North Honshu Sika) · C. nippon dybowskii (Sika Deer) · C. nippon grassianus (Shansi Sika) · C. nippon keramae (Kerama Deer) · C. nippon kopschi (South China Sika) · C. nippon mandarinus (North China Sika) · C. nippon mantchuricus (Mantchurian Sika) · C. nippon nippon (Sika Deer) · C. nippon pseudaxis (South China Sika) · C. nippon pulchellus (Tsushima Sika) · C. nippon sichuanicus (Sichuan Sika) · C. nippon taiouanus (Formosan Sika) · C. nippon yesoensis (Hokkaido Sika) · C. schomburgki (Schomburgk's Deer) · C. timorensis (Sunda Sambar) · C. unicolor (Sambar Deer) · C. unicolor hainana (Sambar)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 11, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Mean = 300.320 meters (985.302 feet), Standard Deviation = 517.090 based on 1,784 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
  2. Lovari, S., Herrero. J., Conroy, J., Maran, T., Giannatos, G., Stubbe, M., Aulagnier, S., Jdeidi, T., Masseti, M. Nader, I., de Smet, K. & Cuzin, F. 2008. Cervus elaphus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 31 January 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 2012-07-18