Tule Elk - Cervus elaphus
Image Source: KQED QUEST - Some rights reserved.

Tule Elk - Cervus elaphus

The Tule Elk is endemic to California. It is the smallest subspecies of North American Elk - Cervus elaphus nannodes. The other two subspecies, also found in California, are Roosevelt Elk (Cervus elaphus roosevelti) and Rocky Mountain Elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni).

In the early 1800's Tule Elk were quite abundant in the Bay area but were driven to local extinction by the 1870's. They were gradually reintroduced into the Mt. Hamilton region between 1978 and 1981 resulting in herds getting established in Isabel Valley, San Antonio Valley, San Felipe, Metcalf Canyon, Coyote Ridge, Anderson Reservoir and surrounding areas. The elk's recovery from local extinction is a remarkable success story.

• We were lucky to see and photograph the herd near Sunol off the road leading from Hwy 680 to the park.
• You may get a lucky sighting of the elk in the hills east of Highway 101 in Coyote Valley.

Tule Elk herd near Sunol Regional Wilderness

• Bugling call of the Elk -  ...sound 
• Tule Elk at Point Reyes National Seashore -  ...link 
• Elk Return to the Bay Area - KQED QUEST Flickr Photo set  ...link 
• The Biology of the Tule Elk, including distribution maps of the 3 subspecies in California, by the California Department of Fish and Game  ...link 
• The Biogeography of the Tule Elk (Cervus elaphus nannodes), by Rachel Kanewske, student at San Francisco State Universit, Fall 2000.  ...link