​Okanagan's Elk Herds

According to the B.C. Ministry of Environment, about 1,350 of the province's estimated 40,000 elk live in the Thompson-Okanagan region. The majority live in the Kootenays and Northern B.C.
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Every year, over 140 elk live on the hillsides above the Naramata Bench from November to March, prior to moving up the mountain to raise their babies.

According to an Environment Canada aerial count in 2009, there are approximately 900 elk living in the Okanagan.

Rocky Mountain Elk in the Okanagan Valley
​​​We need to secure and preserve their Habitat so they can thrive in the Okanagan and preserve the biodiversity of our province.

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                     Rocky Mountain Elk
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​Adult bull Elk stand about 140 cm high at the shoulder and weigh 265 to 410 kg; cows stand about 130 cm high and weigh 190 to 270 kg. British Columbia has two subspecies of Elk, the Roosevelt and Rocky Mountain, which look quite similar. Roosevelt Elk are slightly larger and darker than Rocky Mountain Elk, however, and the antlers of Roosevelt bulls sometimes terminate in a crown of three or four points.

Status

• When the first explorers arrived, Elk were more widespread in the interior of the province than they are today, but for unknown reasons, their numbers declined sharply in the mid-to-late 1800s. Land settlement had a relatively small impact on Elk in mountainous British Columbia, but it resulted in extirpation of Roosevelt Elk on the Gulf Islands and in the lower mainland, and the loss of habitat for Rocky Mountain Elk in the Peace River area and locally in the Okanagan Valley and Rocky Mountain Trench. Since the mid-1970s, the number of interior Rocky Mountain Elk in British Columbia has increased from about 15,000 to 40,000. About 18,000 of these occur in northern BC, 20,000 in the Kootenay region and 1350 in the Thompson-Okanagan area. A few hundred occur in other scattered herds.

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Distribution and Abudance 

• When the Europeans came to North America, the Elk was the most widely distributed hoofed mammal on this continent. Elk occurred across southern Canada from Vancouver Island to Quebec and southward to northern Mexico, Louisiana, and Georgia.

Habitat

• In interior British Columbia, Rocky Mountain Elk tend to be more migratory, though there is a wide variety in the distances they travel between summer and winter ranges. Their winter ranges include open forest, grassy benchlands, and floodplain marshes such as occur along the Rocky Mountain Trench south of Golden. Typical winter foods include sedges, horsetail, and willow in the wetlands and various bunchgrasses, forbs, serviceberry, rose, and other shrubs on adjacent uplands. Elk also relish cultivated forage crops such as alfalfa and clover. In May and June, most Rocky Mountain Elk migrate to subalpine and alpine basins and avalanche tracks, which support lush herbaceous vegetation. The bulls tend to migrate earliest, following the flush of nutritious new growth at higher elevations, but the cows wait until their calves are able to follow them. Autumn snowfalls push the Elk back to their traditional winter ranges, but a few bulls may stay in highelevation areas for extended periods. Elk share their ranges with other ungulates, particularly deer, and less commonly with Moose, Bighorn Sheep, or Mountain Caribou. But each has specialized food sources so that Elk seldom face serious competition for forage. On some southern interior Elk ranges, cattle offer significant competition. Elk have evolved for thousands of years in the presence of various predators. The Elk’s large size protects it from predators, along with its way of hiding newborn calves in dense cover and its habit of living in social groups. Although wolves, Cougars and bears can reduce the numbers of Elk, over the long term the rate of reproduction is usually sufficient to maintain populations. Elk are host to a number of naturally occurring parasites, bacteria, and viruses, but these usually cause disease or death only when the animals are severely stressed by malnutrition.

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Rocky Mountain Elk Range

Conservation

• The distribution and abundance of Elk in British Columbia have varied considerably. Severe winters, market hunting, and land settlement were responsible for population declines in the 1800s. In recent years, reservoir flooding, surface mining, and the development of agricultural land have destroyed Elk habitat, mostly in the Kootenay region. Logging appears to have both good and bad effects. Logging creates early seral forests that provide good forage, but the habitat disappears once regeneration closes the canopy. In coastal valleys, removing old-growth winter range can have serious consequences, and in the interior, cattle grazing has degraded some Elk winter ranges. Poaching and deaths on highways and railways are minor though persistent conservation concerns. Elk conservation programs have a long history in the province. The early 1900s saw the initiation of measures such as closed or restricted hunting seasons, game reserves, and introduced Elk. The desire to protect Elk and other wildlife led to the establishment of Yoho and Kootenay national parks in 1886 and 1920 and Strathcona Provincial Park in 1911. Recent government initiatives such as the Protected Areas Strategy have produced new reserves that contain Elk, particularly in the northern Rockies. Elk transfers and reintroductions began in 1917 with the release of 10 animals near Lillooet. Since that time the release of over 600 Elk at numerous sites has resulted in several new herds and a wider distribution of Elk in the province. The Manitoba Elk was introduced twice: once in 1948 to the Lardeau River valley in the west Kootenays, and again in 1984 to the Kechika River valley in the northern Rocky Mountains. Sports groups have helped government agencies with many of the Elk transplants. There are more release sites capable of supporting Elk, but some are subject to potential conflicts between Elk and agriculture. There appear to be a number of sites on the southern mainland coast where Roosevelt Elk could establish themselves. In 1998, Roosevelt Elk was added to the Blue List of vulnerable or sensitive species because of its limited range and abundance and concerns about loss of habitat, predation, poaching, and unregulated hunting. Recent conservation measures have included burning to improve range, particularly in the Williston Lake and Muskwa River areas in northern British Columbia; coordinated range management planning in the southern interior; and implementation of Forest Practices Code guidelines to protect important riparian habitats and designated winter ranges. Elk populations have responded favourably to most of those initiatives. The future for Elk looks bright in British Columbia. Habitat protection and enhancement, especially of winter ranges, will help maintain herds in the future. This requires planning to integrate Elk requirements with logging, agricultural development, and livestock grazing. Continued control of poaching and attention to problems such as Elk dying in traffic accidents is also needed. Establishing new populations will help to secure the future for Roosevelt Elk in the province. If we give it attention it deserves, the magnificent wapiti will always be a part of British Columbia’s diverse fauna.

For more information:​
https://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/elk.pdf