Re-introduction of tule elk to Point Reyes National Seashore, California, USA

Summary

Tule elk (Cervus elaphus nannodes), a California-endemic subspecies reduced to as few as two to ten animals by 1895 after Gold Rush-era hunting, were reintroduced to Point Reyes National Seashore following a 1971 state law directing agencies to restore the species within its historical range; the fenced, cattle-free Tomales Point was chosen as an ideal soft-release site. Ten elk were moved to a holding pen in March 1978 and released with seven pen-born calves that September, but by mid-1979 the herd was suffering emaciation and severe diarrhea, later diagnosed as Johne's disease and trace-element deficiency from low soil copper and selenium, requiring supplemental feeding, culling of ailing calves, and the loss of three genetic-diversity males added in 1981 that vanished within months. Once past this rocky start, the herd grew exponentially for about 20 years, reaching roughly 450 animals by 1998; managers responded to habitat-degradation concerns with contraceptive treatment of cows from 1997-2001 and, in 1998, translocating 45 disease-screened elk to unfenced Limantour, establishing a second free-ranging herd that later spawned a third when animals dispersed onto cattle ranchland. Because Johne's disease made the original herd unsuitable as a statewide source, managers relied on translocation and fertility control within adaptive management. Difficulties included disease and nutritional deficiency, lack of natural predators driving irruptive growth, and rising conflict with ranchers. The project rates itself highly successful, citing a self-sustaining original herd and a thriving second free-ranging population from its progeny.