Show elk once ranged over most of country almost exterminated by early settlers the magnificent american elk once ranged pretty well all over that part of the continent now occupied by the united states the early settlers quickly exterminated it in its original range east of the mississippi sis sippi and toward the close of the nineteenth century it was being rapidly driven to its last in the western states the elk very hard to hunt its hide was a commercially merci ally valuable leather commodity its head makes an attractive trophy and at one time there was a heavy traffic in elks teeth and many a noble specimen was killed merely for its teeth writes ding darling in the washington star the slaughter of elk in wholesale quantities was easy when the snow was deep because they stick in compact herds a habit that exposed the buffalo to virtual extermination there were elk in new england in the early days and they survived in michigan wisconsin illinois indiana ohio and pennsylvania until the settlers wiped them out in the present range of the elk winter feed is the great problem the protected valley lands have been appropriated for domestic herds which monopolize the old nat ural winter feeding grounds of the elk here and there notably in the jackson hole country the nucleus of the yellowstone elk herd is cared for through the winter months by artificial feeding and pasturage on the elk refuge maintained by the united states biological survey and the state of wyoming in co opera tion these provisions plus those of the national park service will insure the elk against extinction but they are entirely inadequate to increase the existing population the elk is one of the outstanding victims of civilization A hundred million is what naturalists natura lists figure the elk population to have been in this country when the white man began to take charge |