Fieldguide

The tule elk herds had virtually disappeared by 1860, 13 years before the state awarded them complete protection. In the spring of 1978, two bulls and eight cows were brought in from the San Luis Island Wildlife Refuge near Los Banos. The elk were contained within a temporary, three acre enclosure to allow for adjustment to their new surroundings. That summer, 6 of the cows bore calves. In the fall, 17 elk were released from the enclosure on Tomales Point to 1,050 hectares (2,600 acres) of open grassland and coastal scrub. By the summer of 1988, the population was at 93 animals. The population census taken in 2000 counted over 400 elk. In 2009, over 440 were counted at Tomales Point, making the the Point Reyes herds one of the largest populations in California.

Jan, Feb: Heading South
March, Apr: Heading north

One of the longest annual migrations of any mammal, traveling a total of 15,000 to 21,000 kms every year. They migrate south in the fall from their Arctic feeding grounds in the Bering, Beaufort, and Chukchi Seas west and north of Alaska down the Pacific coast as far as Baja California, Mexico, to spend the winter in their breeding and calving grounds in warm water lagoons and in the Southern California Bight.

Not the handsomest creature on the planet.