Elk at Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Guadalupe Mountains National Park's website:
Mountaintop forests of Douglas fir and ponderosa pine are home to mammals such as elk, black bear, gray foxes, striped and hog-nosed skunks, mule deer, and mountain lions. The elk that were native to the Guadalupe Mountains were hunted to extinction by the late 1800’s. In 1928, rancher J.C. Hunter imported 44 elk from the Black Hills of South Dakota and released them in McKittrick Canyon. Today the population is estimated to be between 30 and 40 animals.