Tule Elk State Natural Reserve - California
Tule Elk State Natural Reserve protects a small herd of tule elk, once in danger of extinction. In the 1800's, the vast herds of tule elk were greatly reduced in number by hunting and loss of habitat.
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=584
Tule Elk State Natural Reserve protects a small herd of tule elk, once in danger of extinction. In the 1800's, the vast herds of tule elk were greatly reduced in number by hunting and loss of habitat.
Our Mission
Tule Elk
State Natural Reserve
The mission of California State Parks is
to provide for the health, inspiration and
education of the people of California by helping
to preserve the state’s extraordinary biological
diversity, protecting its most valued natural and
cultural resources, and creating opportunities
for high-quality outdoor recreation.
At times we saw bands
“
of elk, deer, and antelope
in such numbers that they
actually darkened the
plains for miles, and
looked in the distance
California State Parks supports equal access.
Prior to arrival, visitors with disabilities who
need assistance should contact the park
at (661) 764-6881. This publication can be
made available in alternate formats. Contact
interp@parks.ca.gov or call (916) 654-2249.
CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS
P.O. Box 942896
Sacramento, CA 94296-0001
For information call: (800) 777-0369
(916) 653-6995, outside the U.S.
711, TTY relay service
www.parks.ca.gov
Discover the many states of California.™
Tule Elk State Natural Reserve
8653 Station Road
Buttonwillow, CA 93206
(661) 764-6881
© 2012 California State Parks
like great herds of cattle.”
Description of the Central Valley in 1850,
from the Memoirs of Edward Bosqui
t the south end of the San Joaquin
Valley, Tule Elk State Natural Reserve
protects a small herd of tule (toó-lee) elk,
an endemic California subspecies once
hunted nearly to extinction.
After the moose, elk are the second
largest members of the deer family
(Cervidae) in North America.
Three subspecies of elk (Cervus elaphus
also known as Cervus canadensis) still
survive in the United States—Roosevelt elk,
Rocky Mountain elk and tule elk. Roosevelt
elk, the largest, can weigh up to 1,000
pounds. Rocky Mountain elk are about 85%
of that size; they have grown to become the
largest grazing population in the country.
California’s tule elk are about half the size
of the Roosevelt elk and lighter in color,
with shorter coats and larger teeth. Average
mature males stand five feet tall at the
shoulder and weigh 500 pounds. Females
are about 2/3 of male size.
ELK population decline
Tule elk once dominated the deer and
pronghorn population that also grazed in
the San Joaquin Valley. Estimated at more
than half a million animals before 1849, tule
elk originally ranged from Shasta County
C. Hart Merriam photo courtesy of The Bancroft Library
A
Yokuts family in front of tule summer hut, June 1903
FIRST People
For at least 8,000 years, indigenous people (later called the Southern Valley Yokuts)
used the abundant resources of the area’s waterways, created by snowmelt runoff from
the surrounding mountains. Today these watercourses are known as the lower Kings,
Kaweah, Kern and Tule rivers; Tulare, Buena Vista and Kern lakes; and their connecting
marshy sloughs.
Yokuts people lived in a large village called Tulamniu on the northwestern shore of
what was once Buena Vista Lake. Depending on seasonal rainfall and mountain runoff,
the lake covered from 60 to 150 square miles. Its tule rush reeds provided the Yokuts
building materials for their houses and boats, and the starchy tule roots and seeds were
edible. The Yokuts also hunted a variety of game animals. After Spanish settlers and
missionaries came and claimed their lands, many Yokuts died from unfamiliar European
diseases. Those who survived left their homes along Buena Vista Lake.
The people who claimed the Yokuts land sold it to Henry Miller, Charles Lux and
James Crocker in 1868; the lake was drained for farmland. Many Southern Valley Yokuts
descendants still live in the area and observe their ancient customs and traditions.
Central Valley
originally provided
ideal grazing range
for the tule elk.
This elk
subspecies began
Pre-1849
1849
its California
decline in the
1700s with
the arrival of
European settlers.
They imported
grasses and
grazing animals
that competed
with both native
vegetation and
Cache Creek
native animals.
1860
Present
Point Reyes
Hunters and
Grizzly Island
traders further
Wildlife Area
Owens Valley
decimated
San Luis NWR
the state’s elk
Fort Hunter-Liggett
population when
they began killing
Tule Elk SNR
them for hide and
Wind Wolves Preserve
tallow. During
and after the
Gold Rush, new
residents’ demand for elk meat increased.
in the north to the base of the Tehachapi
By the time elk hunting was banned by the
Mountains in the south, and from west of
State Legislature in 1873, the tule elk was
the Sierra Nevada to the central Pacific
believed to be extinct.
coast. Tule elk normally form “gangs” of 40
to 60 animals, but some northern Central
Preserving the tule Elk
Valley herds were thought to number in
the thousands.
Cattle rancher Henry Miller led a movement
Depending on the availability and quality
to protect any remaining tule elk by
of vegetation, each tule elk needs several
providing 600 acres of open range (near
acres of forage to thrive. California’s lush
today’s preserve) and rewarding his workers
RANGE OF CALIFORNIA TULE ELK
who informed on an