The Curraghs Wildlife Park is delighted to announce the arrival of a male European Elk.
 
Kathleen Graham, General Manager for the Curraghs Wildlife Park said: ‘The male Elk has arrived safe and well and is settling in great. He is the new companion for our female and the two of them are already getting along fantastically.’
 
Collection Manager Richard Halsall said: ‘It was a little nerve racking introducing the pair. The new male has spent the last 10 days since he arrived in the house and hard standing with a wire gate separating him from the female. This allowed them to see and smell each other, so they could be softly introduced. However at some point you just have to open the gate and hope for the best! 
 
Richard explained: ‘Elk are usually solitary unlike other deer species that live in herds. We were a little unsure how the female would take to her new companion,  but as the breeding season is September-October we reckoned she would be more receptive to him at this time of year,  so it was the best time to introduce the pair’.
 
Kathleen added: ‘Male Elk stand between 1.4m-2m high at the shoulders and with their iconic antlers they can appear much taller, they can weigh between 380-700kg. The male Elk is still young and although he is already the largest resident here he will probably still grow and mature a wee bit more’.
 
When asked if the Wildlife Park hoped they would breed Kathleen said: ‘We certainly hope so. The male Elk would probably not get to breed at his age in the wild as he would have to compete with other males to win the right to mate with a female. However he has no competition at the Wildlife Park so it is not unusual for Zoos to breed with much younger males, where as they would have no success in the wild.’
 
The European Elks can be visited in the European Marsh section of the Park, keeping watch over the Jumping Pillow!
 
The male Elk came from Whipsnade Zoo, which is owned by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). The female Elk ‘ Willow’ that arrived last year from the Highland Wildlife Park in Scotland was introduced to her new mate on Friday the 30th of August. Elk (Alces alces)  are known in America as Moose, the European Sub-species is known as Elk in its native home range; Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland and some of the Baltic states. In North America they are known as Moose (Alce alces americana  or A. A gigas ) but the two sub-species look very similar.