Wapiti or American Elk

Cervus elaphus

The wapiti is a familiar site in Canadian mountain parks like Banff and Jasper, where it can often be seen grazing between campgrounds or wandering through the village. In fact, the wapiti was once distributed across much of the northern hemisphere, but is now found mainly in protected areas in western Canada. The Wapiti is a grazer which will dig through light snow with its hooves to find grasses in winter, although the winter diet is primarily based upon browse such as willow, aspen, gooseberry and poplar. Mountain lions, grizzly bears and wolves are the primary predators of the wapiti, but healthy adult wapiti are usually able to drive off attacking coyotes and lynx."

Distribution of Wapiti or American Elk in Canada