The tule elk (Cervus canadensis) is endemic to California, found nowhere else in the USA..........In the early 19th century, they numbered a half million strong but were severely reduced in the mid-1800s due to uncontrolled market hunting and displacement by cattle ranching........... By some accounts, fewer than 30 remained in a single herd near Bakersfield in the mid-1870s............. A conservation minded cattle rancher named Henry Miller had the foresight to preserve this last isolated group discovered on his ranch in 1874.......... All of the estimated 3,900 tule elk present in 22 herds across California (as of 2012) were derived from this small remnant herd, thanks to his initial efforts. ......Wherever the Elk are found, positive land enhancing processes are taking place................ Coyotes, foxes, ravens, mice and beetles dine on the rotting carcasses of elk within a day after a Puma makes a kill............ Barn owls feast on the mice.............. Birds, including loggerhead shrikes, eat the beetles................Can you imagine the further positive "circle of life" benefits that the land would absorb if along with the growing Elk herds, their two other historical "dance partners", Wolves and Grizzlies were restored to these ecosystems?.............We would have another Yellowstone full suite of predator and prey at work optimizing all the other animal and plant species!

TULE ELK HERD IN CALIFORNIA, ONCE NEARLY EXTERMINATED, GROWING AGAIN

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