Parks & Recreation

Meet the American Elk at Wildwood Zoo

Elk

We have two male or bull elk in our zoo herd. Zorro was born June 20th, 1994 at the Fritz Game Farm in Owen, Wisconsin. We acquired a new bull elk in 2013. He was born June 1, 2011 and is not yet named. He will be named in May by school children competing in our Recycling Cans for Wildwood Zoo program. We have several female elk (cows). They range in age from 10 to 18 years old.

Zorro is very sociable and outgoing. He is very easy to spot because for the past few years his antlers have been been different sizes. One antler is only about 6 inches long. This could be due to his advanced age or could be due to an injury. The injury would not necessarily have been to his antler. The body will spend it's energy on healing another area rather than put that energy into antler development. The antlers from our elk are auctioned off as a zoo fundraiser at Blues in the Zoo. In the late spring and early summer you may see our elk's fur coat not looking very pretty. Don't worry this is the time they are shedding their winter fur coats.

All of our elk enjoy treats. When their keeper goes into the pen to feed them they sometimes come up looking just for treats. This helps us get a close up view of the herd to make sure everyone is looking healthy.

The elk can been seen from the zoo's Large Animal Drive, this path can be taken both on foot or by car.

American Elk Range in North America

Elk Range

For more information, please visit the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.