Remains of Eastern Elk unearthed

The remains of a rare Eastern elk were unearthed on Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge in October 2004 during the construction of a dike in Mohawk Pool to improve wetland habitat for wildlife. Radiocarbon dating revealed that the remains were nearly 9,500 years old. The elk was a mature 12-point bull approximately five years of age when it died, according to Refuge Biologist Paul Hess.

The elk's remains, including the antlers, top of the skull, and lower jaw bones, were well preserved in the muck soil layer of the impoundment. The specimens are undergoing conservation treatment with the assistance of the Buffalo Museum of Science in preparation for display at the refuge's visitor contact station.

"Most people are unaware that elk once inhabited this part of the country," according to Hess. "This discovery will offer visitors to Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge unique evidence of a time when these magnificent animals once roamed western New York."

Elk belong to the same family as deer and moose. Scientists believe that elk first appeared on the North American continent approximately 120,000 years ago during the Ice Age when the glaciers exposed a land bridge between what is now Siberia and Alaska. It is believed that red deer from Tibet or western China migrated across this land bridge. In North America, these same animals came to be called "elk" by the early settlers. By the late 1400s, elk were the most widespread hoofed animal in the New World and could be found throughout most of North America. Scientists do not yet understand nor agree on the evolutionary relationships between Asian, European red deer and North American elk. Many do agree that Eastern elk was one of six subspecies that evolved in North America. The refuge has saved a sample of the skull for future DNA analysis to contribute to solving the puzzle.

At one time Eastern elk inhabited most of eastern Canada and the eastern United States as far west as the Mississippi River. As people continued to settle in the region over the next few centuries, however, elk populations decreased due to over-hunting and the loss of their dense woodland habitat.

Naturalist John James Audubon reportedly mentioned that by 1851 few elk could still be found in the Alleghany Mountains and that there were almost none anywhere else. By the end of the nineteenth century the Eastern elk was completely extinct.

Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.