Free Teacher Resources
A bull elk with large branching antlers standing in a forest.
Photo: Membeth, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Elk

Cervus canadensis

A large North American deer whose males grow huge antlers every year and fill autumn valleys with high-pitched bugling.

🦌 Deer
Checking teacher reviews…
Teacher? Sign in to review this page →Report a mistake

About the Elk

Elk eat mostly grasses and small plants, plus some shrubs, about 20 pounds of plants a day. In summer, herds move high into the mountains, and in winter they move down to lower valleys. A bull's antlers can grow up to an inch a day in spring and are covered in soft, fuzzy skin called velvet. Calves are born in late May or June, weigh about 30 pounds, and have spots that fade by late summer.[1]

Quick facts

Scientific name
Cervus canadensis[1]
Size
Bulls about 5 feet tall at the shoulder. Cows about 4.5 feet.[1]
Weight
Bulls 700 to 1,000 pounds (up to 1,100 in fall). Cows about 300 to 500 pounds.[1]
Lifespan
10 to 13 years in the wild.[1]
Diet
Herbivore. Mostly grasses and small flowering plants, plus shrubs: about 20 pounds a day.[1]
Habitat
Mountain meadows and valleys, moving higher in summer and lower in winter.[1]
Group life
Very social herds that can grow to a few hundred elk.[1]
Babies
Calves are born from late May into June, weigh about 30 pounds, and have spots.[1]
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN Red List, assessed 2015).[2]

Fun facts

  • Elk antlers can grow up to an inch a day in spring.[1]
  • A mature bull's antlers can weigh up to 40 pounds. They fall off every winter.[1]
  • A bull elk's bugle starts with deep tones and rises to a high-pitched squeal.[1]
  • Rocky Mountain National Park's elk come from 49 elk moved from Yellowstone in 1913-1914.[1]

Vocabulary

antler
A branched bony growth on a deer's head that falls off and regrows every year.
velvet
The soft, fuzzy skin that covers growing antlers.
bugle
The loud, high call a male elk makes in the fall.
rut
The mating season of deer and elk.
bull / cow
Names for an adult male (bull) and adult female (cow) elk.

See it in person

Sources

  1. [1] National Park Service, Rocky Mountain National Park. “Elk.” https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/nature/elk.htm (accessed 2026-10-02)
  2. [2] IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. “Cervus canadensis (Wapiti).” https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/55997823/142396828 (accessed 2026-10-02)

Facts last checked 2026-10-02.

More Deer

A male white-tailed deer with antlers standing in dry grass.White-Tailed DeerOdocoileus virginianusA common deer of the Americas that flashes its white tail as a warning and bounds away at up to 30 miles per hour.