Scientific name -- Cervus elaphus
Size -- 250 lbs. (hinds), 500 lbs. (stags)
Diet -- grasses, sedges, woody growth

Elk are called "red deer" in Europe, and to further confuse the issue, what Europeans would call an elk, Americans call moose. The species is also called Wapiti (a Shawnee Indian word) to help avoid the confusion. Elk are large deer with shaggy manes and pointed horns. They live in northern forests in large herds of up to 400 individuals, dominated by a matriarch. Stags form harems in the fall mating season. Elk are preyed upon by mountain lions, wolves and bears.