Elk

Description:

A Elk is one of the largest deer in the world, they are animals with large antlers a big usually light reddish brown coat of fur, and they eat mostly plants and shrubbery. On average a male Elk stands 1.5 meters tall and on average weighs 710 to 730 pounds, in the meantime female elks stand 1.3 meters and weigh on average 500-530 pounds. Only the males have antlers, they start growing in the spring and are shed each winter. The largest antlers may be 1.2 meters tall, and can weigh up to 40 pounds. Antlers are made of bone which can grow 2.5 centimeters per day.

Habitat:

In North America the Elk usually live in almost all of Canada excluding the arctic. In the U.S. Elk do not live in most of Alaska, northern New England and upstate New York, the upper rocky mountains, northeastern Minnesota, Michigan upper peninsula, and isle royal in lake superior. They do live in most other areas of the United States. They tend to travel in packs, and usually live in heavy forested areas and occasionally in forested areas including mountains.

Notes:

- Another species that shares the same environment is a moose, these animals are often mistaken for elks. The Moose is slightly bigger than a elk and weighs a bit more than a elk, the moose is a little brighter brown than a elk though. - A wolf has a symbiotic relashionship with an Elk, this relashionship is a parasitism because the wolf feeds off of the elk. - A elk has various adaptations to survive in the environments that it does such as; warm fur for the winter cold, big antlers to fend off enemies, hooves to be able to walk the mountain and ground easily, and tall legs to be able to walk in the snow well. -This species uses sexual reproduction, I know is is sexual because they don't lay eggs and they don't split into two randomly, so the only way they can reproduce is by sex. - An elks NICHE in its environment as of what it eats, what eats it, and how it interacts with the environment. An elk eats plants mostly and some shrubbery, an elk gets eaten by bears, wolves, and cyotes, the elk at certain parts of the year