Rogue elk spotted in Hornitos, officials know where it’s from

It’s not everyday when someone is driving in Hornitos and they spot an elk strolling along a fence line.

And then in town.

Yet that’s what happened last week as photos began to appear on social media of a bull elk roaming around the Hornitos area.

Speculation mounted and swirled in the world of social media.

“This is a Rocky Mountain elk,” said Krysten Kellum, information officer for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).

Kellum said fish and wildlife officials collared the elk “several weeks ago” and it likely has wandered north from the Tehachapi area, which is southeast of Bakersfield.

She said there is a significant population of elk in that area and this bull “is likely dispersing out of Rocky Mountain elk population” in that area following the annual rut.

The elk rutting season is generally in late September and October when males “bugle” in an effort to attract females.

During the fall rut, said Kellum, bulls “will attract cows and form harems. After rut, the bulls will disperse and travel alone or join with other bulls.”

That is likely the story behind the elk that wandered into the Hornitos area of Mariposa County.

There has been some online speculation the elk may have been part of a herd that was recently transplanted on land owned by the Tule Indian Tribe. That land was returned to the tribe by the state of California.

There were 17,030 acres turned back over to the tribe and there were also elk released on that land. Those are tule elk and it was done in cooperation with the tribe, California Natural Resources Agency, Wildlife Conservation Board and CDFW.

A press release in late October from the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom said reintroduction of the tule elk is part of the transfer of the land. It has not been stated since that time how many elk were reintroduced.

However, Kellum did give out one bit of information that is relevant to the sighting in Hornitos. She said “no bulls were released in Tulare County,” meaning the one spotted near Hornitos could not have been from those released as part of the return of tribal land.

Elk are known to travel long distances and that could explain the wanderer which ended up in Hornitos and likely points even more north.

Kellum said anyone who sees an elk should use extreme caution.

“All wildlife, including elk, typically avoid being around humans,” she said. “It’s important to keep wildlife wild so do not feed the elk and keep a good distance away, maybe 100 feet, and even if the elk allows you to get closer, do not approach,” said Kellum.

Should an elk approach, Kellum said people should “back away calmly and give it space or put something between you and it such as your vehicle or a tree.”

Photography, she said, should be done at a distance. Kellum highly suggested using the zoom function on a camera to photograph the elk.

“Do not try to get closer to the elk,” she said.

California’s total elk population is estimated to be around 13,000, with the majority being tule elk (approximately 5,700 to 6,000) living in 22 scattered herds.

The other species, Rocky Mountain elk and Roosevelt elk, also have populations within the state. Historically, the tule elk population was decimated by hunting but has since rebounded through reintroduction efforts.

The rangeland of the tule elk is from the Bakersfield area all the way north to near San Jose, generally in the western mountains and hills of California. With the reintroduction of the species on the tribal land, there are now tule elk in the eastern part of the state mainly in Tulare County.

Elk hunting in California is restricted, Kellum said, and is only permitted with the appropriate hunt tags in either the Northeastern Zone or in Tehachapi during certain time periods.

Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese said his office was only aware of the elk because they received phone calls from citizens in the Hornitos area.

“I am aware of it,” he said last week. “We immediately turned it over to fish and wildlife.”