Elk Chops
There once was a king of the Pennsylvania Forests. Cervus Canadensis Canadensis- the Eastern Elk.
The Eastern Elk was once a prolific sight up and down the East Coast of North America. Of course, like most of our historical discussions here, Pennsylvania’s native elk has been extinct for almost 150 years, the folklore being that the last one was killed in Pennsylvania in 1877. It could not survive with it’s habitat that was destroyed and it being hunted without any regulations or oversight. In Mario L. Chiappelli’s 2023 book – Preserving the Pennsylvania Wilds, The Rebirth of Elk Country, he tells the story of how the Eastern Elk went extinct, then the newly formed Pennsylvania Game Commission decided to transplant Rocky Mountain Elk to Pennsylvania’s forests in 1913. The program was fraught with issues and under intense pressure from all sides , the author talks about the unbridled lumber and coal industries, the diseases, and starvation that almost took out the herd, but after 50 years it is considered a great success, with a majestic elk population back in Pennsylvania where they once ruled Penn’s Woods.
Our elk supplier is Fossil Farms.
Check out the book on Amazon!