Tule Elk Bull

Tule elk were reintroduced to Point Reyes National Seashore in 1978. Since then, the elk have grown from 10 animals to over 550, one of the largest populations in California. There are two separate herds of tule elk at Point Reyes. The larger herd is at Tomales Point, a 2,600-acre fenced reserve at the north end of the Seashore. The other is a herd of roughly 50 animals that was transplanted from Tomales Point and now roams free in the Limantour wilderness area of the Seashore and above Drakes Beach. The reintroduction of this free-ranging herd is an important step in the ecological restoration in the park.

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
• The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation

Discover more about the tule elk by reading Tule Elk - Return of a Species (371 KB PDF, Adobe® Acrobat Reader® required to view document) or by visiting our Viewing Tule Elk webpage.

Volunteer to be a Tule Elk Docent during weekends, July through September, at Point Reyes National Seashore.

Top of Page

Tule Elk Video
In 2004, the Pacific Coast Science and Learning Center produced a DVD entitled "Science Behind the Scenery." One segment of this DVD featured the tule elk. This 6:29-minute Quicktime video is available as either a "Low" resolution video of 240 pixels x 180 pixels at 12 frames per second for those with slower connections, or as a "Medium" resolution video of 320 pixels x 180 pixels at 15 frames per second for those with faster connections.
Low (8,248 KB) | Medium (29,196 KB)

Download QuickTime Player for free.

KQED's Quest Program
Elk Return to the Bay Area - initially aired on March 20, 2007

Top of Page