Merriam's elk in SOAZ

[SilentButDeadly]

I dug this up off Google Scholar just now - there is an elk skull from the Santa Catalina dated 1884

 

The question now might be: Why aren't we putting elk back into the Sky Islands?

 

[CouesWhitetail]

Interesting article....thanks for posting it

[CouesPursuit]

Merriam's elk (Cervus elaphus merriami) were a subspecies extirpated from AZ around 1900.

Rocky Mountain elk we have in AZ now are (Cervus elaphus nelsoni).

 

We have enough elk in Arizona IMO. Expensive. Risks too in how they can effect the habitat and T&E.

Plus we would restock the wolves and imagine that! lol

 

I have some literature on Merriam's elk pm if interested.

 

[AZLance]

There are already elk in the sky islands... The Pinalenos, the Chiricahuas, the Gallieros, and the Whetstones all have elk right now. The Catalinas and Rincons are next....

[SilentButDeadly]

I knew there were some in the Pinalenos -- but doesn't AZGFD state that historically there were not elk there - and that is why they are offering OTC tags in those areas?

[BELLOTABUCKS]

There are already elk in the sky islands... The Pinalenos, the Chiricahuas, the Gallieros, and the Whetstones all have elk right now. The Catalinas and Rincons are next....

not doubting you at all but how do you know elk are in all those ranges, whetstones are very surprising

[AZLance]

The Pinalenos, and the Gallieros both have elk. there has been a hunt for elk in the Pinalenos (unit31) for several years now (hunt #3182, Unit 28, 31, 32). There was actually a pretty big (400+) elk killed in there a few years back. There has been herds of 50+ elk at Riggs Flat lake up on top of Mount grahm as well. The Gallieros are new to the elk, and there are not many, but they have migrated across the farmland between the Pinalenos and the Galieros. They have been causing a nuisance down in the apple orchards north of Wilcox as well. I don't have the pictures of the sheds, but there were some big sheds found in the orchards a few years back. The Chiricahuas have had a small but growing population of elk for almost going on 10 years now. The big question is if these elk actually migrated down from unit 28 or if they escaped from the few ranchers who used to raise them down by Elfrida. Those ranchers went out of the elk business when the overseas antler trade crashed, and most of the elk disappeared...

 

Now the Whetstones is a whole different story. I have seen video of 4 cows roaming down near Cienaga Creek on the west side of the Whetsotnes, and talked to several people who have seen them in Davidson Canyon at the north end of the Whetstones. This really surprises me as well, as there is little elk habitat down there. But I also talked to a G&F employee who confirmed that they had several report of elk down there as well.

 

And if there are actually elk in the Whetstones (not just some lost souls), it is just a matter of time until they are in the Catalinas and Santa Ritas....