Elk return to The Great Smoky Mountains and the National Park
In a never ending quest to preserve native plants and animals of The Great Smoky Mountains National park, the park service started an experimental release program of North American Elk into the park.
These are now the largest residents of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park where adult males bulls elk can weigh from 600 to 700 pounds and female cows average around 500 pounds. Adult Elk measure from 7 to 10 feet long and bull elk can sport antlers that may be as wide as 5 feet from end to end.
The North American Elk were once residents of the areas that have become the national park, the Appalachian Mountains and other regions throughout the eastern US, but due to the encroachment of man and over hunting, the last North Carolinian Elk was killed in the late 1700's and Tennessee lost its last Elk less than 50 years later. Conservation organizations were already concerned during the late 1800's that the North American Elk was headed for sure extinction if action was not taken to preserve the species.
Elk bull in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park Elk Cow grazing in the Smoky Mountains Park
Some reintroductions of threatened or eliminated species that once inhabited the park have been successful. Examples of successful reintroductions are the river otter, the peregrine falcon, and 3 different fish. Unfortunately there have been failures too such as the attempt to reintroduce the Red Wolf back into the park.
An Elks lifespan is around 15 years and its diet consists mostly of grasses, forbs and acorns but elk will also eat leaves, buds, and bark from both tress and shrubbery.
When Elk cows are 2 years old they can give birth to one 35 pound calf every June. Though a calf is very dependant on the mother cow nursing from 1 to 7 months, the calf can stand on its own within minutes of birth. Both cow and calf will join the herd within a few weeks of birth and the calves lose the spots on their coats by the end of summer.
Normal behavior of a mother will be to leave the calf alone while feeding. The calf will instinctively lie down and remain still to avoid detection by predators. If you find an elk calf alone without its mother, back away and leave the calf alone. Do not touch the calf and leave the area at once as the mother is sure to be around and doing anything that the mother cow feels is a threat to its calf may cause a very unpleasant confrontation with an angry 500 pound extremely aggressive mother elk protecting her young and attacking you or those around you.
An angry mother elk is not the only elk to steer clear of, male elks are protective of their herd and territory and they may perceive you as a threat and charge and even attack you without being intentionally provoked by you.
Elk have a keen sense of smell and exceptional eyesight which they will need to protect themselves from the predators of the park: coyotes, black bear and bobcat which could prey on any sick, young or injured elk they can find. Other predators that would normally pose a threat to the elk such as mountain lions and grey wolves no longer inhabit the park.
Elk can be seen in fields in the Cataloochee area
You don't have to just see the rutting ritual to know that it is happening, you can actually hear the bulls bugling calls used to attract female cows and challenge other bulls up to a mile away. The Elks ultimate goal is to breed with his harem which may consist of up to 20 female elk.
Based upon the appearance of or lack of a bull elks antlers you can actually tell what time of the year it is.
In March the elk shed their antlers however as soon as the elk shed their antlers they immediately start growing a new set. If you happen to find an elks antlers in the park you must leave them alone as the elk's antlers are extremely rich in calcium and they are a food source for rodents and other small animals in the park that quickly devour them. It is illegal to possess antlers inside the park or remove antlers from the park.
By the end of summer in August the elks have shed their velvet and the antlers are fully grown. The picture of the bull elk at the top of this page clearly shows the velvet coat on his antlers.
To protect against the cold of winter, Elk have a specially developed a 2 layer coat. The bottom layer is a soft woolly underfur that keeps the animal warm and the top coat consists of long guard hair that repels water. In the top 2 pictures above on this page you can see that the Elk are shedding their winter coat. A lighter, copper colored single layer summer coat replaces the winter coat and often the male elk wallow in the mud to stay even cooler and to avoid insect that pester them.
Where, When and How to view Elk in The Great Smoky Mountain National Park
Where to view elk in the park
Since there are only 52 North American Elk in the park, unlike deer that inhabit every section of the park, there are only a few places in the park where the elk can be observed.
The best area to observe them is in the south eastern section of the park on the North Carolina side named the Cataloochee area which contains most of the elk which can easily be observed in the three large fields accessible by your vehicle.
It will take you at least 45 minutes to get to the Cataloochee area of the national park from exit 20 on I-40. After 0.2 miles make a right onto Cove Creek Road which will take you 11 miles into Cataloochee valley which is fairly well marked.
Best times of the day to view elk in the park
The best times of the day to be able view elk in their natural habitat in the park are early morning and just prior to sunset. You may also find that elk may also be active just before or after a rain storm or on cloudy days in the summer.
How to view elk safely in the park
For the Elks safety and your own, to view elk you should be at a great distance. Use binoculars, a spotting scope, or a camera with a long telephoto lens in order to bring the action up close. The pictures on this page were taken by a professional nature photographer using an extremely powerful telephoto lens while being well camouflaged from the elk and at a great distance.
Besides your own personal safety that is risked from approaching wildlife like elk too closely, you may cause them to expend crucial energy unnecessarily which can result in real harm to the animal.
How do you know if you are too close? If the elk stops feeding, if it changes direction of its movement or in any way alters its behavior because of your presence, you are too close to the elk!
Special laws in the park to protect the Elk
It is illegal to collect elk parts or antlers and you are never to feed or bait elk in order to observe them closer. It is also illegal to use elk bugles or other wildlife animal calls in order to attract or disturb elk in the national park.
The shinning of spotlights, flashlights or headlights to observe, disturb or attract elk is also strictly forbidden.
Elk management past The Great Smoky Mountains Nationals Parks Boundaries
In the winter it is common in order to feed, Elk may move from the higher country to the valleys. Unfortunately Elk may travel beyond the safety of the boundaries of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in search of new territories.
In anticipation of this elk movement most of the non-crop land that is adjacent to the national park is designated as elk buffer zone. No action by the park service will be taken if elk move into these buffer zones as long as the animals do not cause significant property damage or other conflict. If any elk in this buffer are found to be a problem the National Park Service will remove the elk.
All lands outside the Elk buffer zone are designated as no elk zones and any Elk entering these areas will be removed by personnel from the National Park Service or state wildlife agencies.
It is illegal for anyone to kill an elk without a special permit from their state's wildlife management agency.
Call (865) 436-1248 or (865) 436-1230 to report any elk you may see outside the national park.
The experimental North American Elk reintroduction Project partners include:
- Friends of the Smokies
- The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
- Parks Canada
- Great Smoky Mountains Natural History Association
- The USGS Biological Resources Division
- University of Tennessee
