The tule elk is a subspecies of North American elk that occurs only in California. They are smaller and lighter in color than other subspecies of elk. For thousands of years, vast numbers of tule elk thrived in the grasslands of central and coastal California. In the mid-1800s, following the gold rush, uncontrolled market hunting and rapid agricultural development nearly drove them to extinction. They were gone from the Point Reyes area by the 1860s. In 1874, the last surviving tule elk (possibly as few as two individuals) were discovered and protected in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Beginning in the early 1900s, conservation efforts, including reintroduction programs, have increased the statewide population to more than 3,000.


Tule elk were reintroduced to Point Reyes National Seashore in 1978. Since then, the elk have grown from 10 animals to nearly 500, one of the largest populations in California. There are two separate herds of tule elk at Point Reyes. The larger is at Tomales Point, a 2,600-acre fenced reserve at the north end of the Seashore. The other is a herd of roughly 30 animals that was recently transplanted from Tomales Point and now roams free in the Limantour wilderness area of the Seashore. The reintroduction of this free-ranging herd is an important step in the ecological restoration in the park.


Discover more about the tule elk by reading "Tule Elk - Return of a Species" (367Kb PDF file - Adobe Acrobat Reader

The project to reintroduce free-ranging tule elk to the Limantour area was made possible by generous grants from:
Canon USA, Inc., through the National Park Foundation;
The Committee for the Preservation of Tule Elk;
The Leonard X. Bosak and Bette M. Kruger Charitable Foundation; and
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation

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