The Roosevelt elk (Cervus canadensis roosevelti), is the largest of the four surviving subspecies of elk in North America.
They ranged from San Francisco to British Columbia. In 1848, populations began declining due to market hunting with the gold rush and settlement. Legislation passed in 1872 to restrict hunting and selling. Beginning around the 1880s, many elk were killed for their tusks (upper canine teeth). The situation got so bad that hunting became illegal in 1899. Numbers recovered somewhat and limited permit hunting of some elk species resumed in the 1960s.
In 1982, 17 Roosevelt elk were translocated from Gold Bluffs Beach, Humboldt County, to King Range and separated into herds along the coast as far South as Fort Bragg. About 60 elk, cows and calves in several groups, and single males, roam from Shelter Cove south to Sinkyone Wilderness State Park.
blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/wildlife/watchable/areas/shelter.print.html The elk or wapiti (Cervus canadensis) is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, in the world, and one of the largest land mammals in North America and eastern Asia. This animal should not be confused with the larger moose (Alces alces), to which the name "elk" applies in the British Isles and Eurasia.
Early European explorers in North America, who were familiar with the smaller red deer of Europe, thought that the larger North American animal resembled a moose, and consequently gave it the name elk, which is the common European name for moose. The word elk is related to Scandinavian elg/älg and German Elch, all of which refer to the animal known in North America as the moose.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elk Roosevelt elk grow to 3m in length and stand 1.5 m tall at the shoulder.Elk bulls generally weigh between 300–500 kg, while cows weigh 260–285 kg.
Some mature bulls from Raspberry Island in Alaska have weighed nearly 1300 lb (600 kg).