American Elk

Background:

Prior to the arrival of European colonization on the North American continent, the ecological bio-diversity was much richer than we currently know in the 21st Century. Prior to the colonization animals such as the American Bison (Bison bison), Eastern Elk (Cervus canadensis canadiensis), Eastern Cougar (Puma concolor couguar), and Wolf (Canis lupus) were commonly seen across the North American continent. However, with the colonization from the old world came old world prejudices and practices. Within two hundred and fifty years all of these species were eradicated from the Eastern United States or extinct. Over the course of the last century an effort has been made to halt the loss of the North American fauna with the creation of national parks and animal preservation habitats, and in the last half of 20th century work was being done to reintroduce that fauna back to its natural habitat. This process has been used with several different species; however, no species has been given as much attention in the Eastern United States as that of the American Elk.