A gang of elk went for an early polar bear swim yesterday at the north end of Pitt Lake.
Images of the number of them suggest their reintroduction to the area about 15 years ago continues to be a success.
The Roosevelt elk reintroduced to the Upper Pitt Lake area prospered to the point where the Environment Ministry allowed a small hunt of the herd for the first time in 2015.
Twenty-three elk were relocated into Upper Pitt Lake in January of 2005, as the Environment Ministry attempted to bring back a herd that was wiped out by over-hunting in the early 1900s.
READ ALSO: Elk thriving in Upper Pitt Lake.
It was estimated then that there were 67-75 of them in the Pitt Lake area when the hunt resumed.
The lifespan of such elk in the wild is 12 to 15 years.
The ministry also placed 20 elk in the Indian River area in 2006, and in the Upper Stave Lake area in 2007. The relocated animals originally came from the Sunshine Coast and Powell River areas.
In August of 2013, Roosevelt elk were photographed on the Lougheed Highway, near Kanaka Creek. They have been frequently sighted in the Albion flats area, and environment ministry biologists also took that as a good sign that reintroduced elk are thriving.
READ ALSO: Elk making themselves at home in Maple Ridge.
Roosevelt elk are the largest species of elk in North America. The largest adult bulls can stand 1.5 metres at the shoulder, and weigh up to 500 kilograms.
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