Global InformationManitoban elk information
 | This article uses bare URLs, which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot. (August 2022) |
| Manitoban elk | |
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Conservation status
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 Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1] | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Cervidae |
| Subfamily: | Cervinae |
| Genus: | Cervus |
| Species: | C. canadensis
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| Subspecies: | C. c. manitobensis
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| Trinomial name | |
| Cervus canadensis manitobensis (Erxleben, 1777)[2]
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The Manitoban elk (Cervus canadensis manitobensis) is a subspecies of elk found in the Midwestern United States (specifically North Dakota) and southern regions of the Canadian Prairies (specifically Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and north-central Alberta).[3][4][5] In 2001–2002, a breeding population of 52 Manitoban elk was also introduced into the Cataloochee valley of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina to replace a population of Eastern elk which had gone extinct over 100 years prior. As of 2021, the population has grown to 150-200 individuals and has expanded their range outside of their initial protected region.[6] In 2016, one of the elk from the North Carolina herd was spotted in South Carolina, the first time an elk had been seen in that state since the late 1700s.[7]
Compared to the Rocky Mountain elk, it is larger in body size, but has smaller antlers. The subspecies was driven into near extinction by 1900, but has recovered since then.
The Manitoban elk's primary predator is the grey wolf. Because the elk is a non-migratory species, it cannot rely on long-distance migration to reduce the risk of predation, and therefore uses a combination of behavioral patterns, such as aggregation, movement, and vigilance, to avoid predation.[8]
- ^ "The Manitoban Elk". Critter Science. September 17, 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ Erxleben, J.C.P. (1777) Anfangsgründe der Naturlehre and Systema regni animalis.
- ^ "Hunting".
- ^ http://www.wideopenspaces.com/species-elk-north-america-can-hunt/
- ^ "Elk Hunts » Got Hunts Approved Guides and Outfitters". 11 June 2022.
- ^ "Elk". North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ Keith Allen (27 October 2016). "First elk seen in South Carolina since the 1700s". CNN. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ Vander Wal, Eric; Paquet, Paul C.; Andrés, José A. (March 2012). "Influence of landscape and social interactions on transmission of disease in a social cervid". Molecular Ecology. 21 (5): 1271–1282. Bibcode:2012MolEc..21.1271V. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05431.x. ISSN 1365-294X. PMID 22289112. S2CID 32694457.