Mammals of the WorldWapiti
Cervus canadensis
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Cervidae
- Genus
- Cervus
- IUCN status
- LC
- Distribution
- Kazakhstan|Kyrgyzstan|Russia|Mongolia|China|Bhutan|Canada|United States
- Realm
- Palearctic|Nearctic
Other names: Elk|Alashan Wapiti (Elk)|Izubra|Manchurian Wapiti (Elk)|Merriam's Wapiti (Elk)|Tule Elk|Sichuan Shou|Macneill's Red Deer|Tibetan Shou|Rocky Mountain Wapiti (Elk)|Roosevelt's Wapiti (Elk)|Altai Wapiti (Elk)
About this species
- Diet
- Grasses, sedges, leaves, twigs, and bark
- Habitat
- Open forest and forest edge
- Range
- North America and Central, East, and northern Asia
The wapiti is one of the largest deer. It has a substantial body, long legs, and a conspicuous pale rump patch; adult males carry large branching antlers that are shed and regrown annually. The broad rump patch and relatively pale antlers help distinguish wapiti from the closely related red deer, with which it was formerly combined. Sources now treat Cervus canadensis as a separate species based in part on mitochondrial evidence. Females lack antlers and are smaller and more lightly built than mature bulls. (Wikipedia, general species account)
Across its range, wapiti use open woodland and forest edge. They graze grasses and sedges and browse leaves, twigs, and bark. During the mating season, males posture, spar with their antlers, and bugle to establish dominance and attract females. The native range includes Central, East, and northern Asia as well as North America. Mongolia is included in the Mammal Diversity Database country list used for this site's checklist, but the biological source opened for this entry did not support a more precise Mongolian locality. (Wikipedia, general species account; Mammal Diversity Database)
Description: Wildlife of Mongolia guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)