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tule elk
The tule elk (''Cervus canadensis nannodes'') is a subspecies of elk found only in California, ranging from the grasslands and marshlands of the Central Valley to the grassy hills on the coast. The subspecies name derives from the tule on which it feeds, which grows in the marshlands. When the Europeans first arrived, an estimated 500,000 tule elk roamed these regions, but by 1870 they were thought to be extirpated.〔 However, in 1874-1875 a single breeding pair was discovered in the tule marshes of Buena Vista Lake in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Conservation measures were taken to protect the species in the 1970s. Today, the wild population exceeds 4,000.〔 Tule elk can reliably be found in Carrizo Plain National Monument, Point Reyes National Seashore, portions of the Owens Valley from Lone Pine to Bishop, and on Coyote Ridge in Santa Clara Valley, San Jose, California.
==Description==
Considered the smallest of the wapiti in North America, the tule elk were the dominant large ungulate in California prior to the arrival of the Spanish. It is typically described as the smallest subspecies of all American elks, with the average weight of adult males only and females average of . Although tule elk have been reported as half the size of the Roosevelt elk, and sometimes referred to as the dwarf elk, this moniker may be misleading as the smaller size of some tule elk may reflect poor nutrition of elk subsisting on marginal habitat such as the Owens River watershed. California Department of Fish and Wildlife records show recent bull elk on Grizzly Island in Suisun Bay weigh up to .〔 This is a similar size to Roosevelt elk bulls which weigh between and . Wildlife biologist Dale McCullough described an elk transplanted from Buttonwillow in the San Joaquin Valley to a golf course in Monterey that grew to the size of a Rocky Mountain elk. Also hunter H. C. Banta described the tule elk in the 1850s as "I found no difference in size between these elk and the Oregon, Washington, Wyoming and Colorado elk, and felt sure that the bulls would weight 700 to 800 pounds".
The calves are similar to deer fawns, with brown coats and white spots.
Genetic studies based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA confirm that Tule elk, Roosevelt elk and Rocky Mountain elk should be considered distinct subspecies. The 2010 nuclear DNA study found five alleles at one locus, indicating that there has either been a mutation at this locus subsequent to the single breeding pair reported by Henry Miller and nineteenth century game warden A. C. Tibbet, or there were three surviving tule elk at the genetic bottleneck.
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
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