![]() Overhunting and encroachment onto their natural habitat eventually decimated the eastern elk, but their cousins, the Rocky Mountain elk and the Manitoban elk, continued to survive in the less populated Western US and Canada. ![]() Three years later the US Fish and Wildlife Service declared them extinct. In 1887, the last surviving eastern elk in the United States was shot in Pennsylvania. ![]() Other than wolves and bear, they had few natural predators. Enormous herds or “gangs” roamed the land from Louisiana to Canada. They were prized for their meat-the tastiest of all venison-and their hides were used for everything from clothing to book covers. Their antlers were often 6 feet wide or more. A bull stood five feet at the shoulder and weighed as much as 1,000 pounds. Prior to the European settlement, 10 million elk roamed the country. It was quite incredible, to say the least! From Millions to Extinction It begins as a low moan and grows in volume and intensity until it ends in a high-pitched scream. ![]() When he got to the other side, he threw his head back and bugled once before disappearing into the woods.Īs Sue and George can attest, it’s a sound you never forget-a sound so terrifying that it was the inspiration for the scream of the “Ringwraith” in the Lord of the Rings. The elk raised his head, gave them a long look, and then slowly entered the water and forged the stream. A massive bull elk was grazing on the path right in front of them, his huge rack almost brushing the ground. As they came around the bend, they saw something that stopped them dead in their tracks. On a crisp fall day in 2015, innkeepers Sue and George Brown were walking along the riverside path at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in Cherokee-a lovely walk that meanders through the woods along a mountain stream. ![]()
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