ELK

One of the most well known of Omega Park’s animals, we present to you, the elk! This animal can be recognised by the size of the adult male and the dark reddish-brown color of its head, neck and chest with the rest of its body being lighter. The elk is a good swimmer and runner (it can reach up to 50 km/h). On average, they live for 20 years.

The elks at the park are not very shy, they will willingly approach cars in search of carrots. This animal is the great American deer. The wapiti, known as the elk by North American Anglophones, is a herbivore from the deer family. The elk is a North American subspecies of red deer (cervus elaphus) which inhabits Europe and Central Asia. In 2004 it was named cervus canadensis. Orginally from Montana and Wyoming, it is the second largest deer in the world (140cm at the shoulder) after the moose.

The rutting period, characterised by the deer’s cry, takes place from mid-September to mid-October. Males are aggressive and therefore dangerous at this time. Females generally give birth to one fawn between mid-May and the beginning of June.

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