tule elk

noun

: a relatively small elk (Cervus elaphus nannodes) native to California

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web When settlers arrived, the river flowed into lakes and vast wetlands in the southern San Joaquin Valley, forming a green oasis where tule elk grazed and millions of migrating birds clouded the sky. Ian James Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 2021 At California’s Point Reyes National Seashore, park rangers last year installed water troughs to aid herds of tule elk, whose numbers have thinned. Jim Carlton, WSJ, 13 Feb. 2022 The Kern River was once a thriving oasis for migrating birds and tule elk. Los Angeles Times, 16 Dec. 2021 Herds of tule elk, collecting in sub herds for mating, are sprinkled across the reserve. Tom Stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle, 3 Sep. 2021 While tule elk once roamed much of Central and Northern California, their numbers plummeted to near extinction over the past century and a half. Kurtis Alexander, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 June 2021 Many say the practice is wrecking the scenic landscape and at odds with the park’s mission of protecting wildlife, most notably the area’s famed herds of tule elk. Kurtis Alexander, San Francisco Chronicle, 21 Apr. 2021 In 1978, state and federal wildlife managers moved some of the last tule elk in California back to the northern tip of the park at Tomales Point in an attempt to save them from extinction. Susanne Rust Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2021 The area is also home to tule elk, a subspecies of the North American elk, that lives only in California. Kurtis Alexander, San Francisco Chronicle, 21 Apr. 2021 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tule elk.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

First Known Use

1939, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of tule elk was in 1939

Dictionary Entries Near tule elk

Cite this Entry

“Tule elk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tule%20elk. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.

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