Are there any free-ranging elk in Missouri today?
Prior to European settlement elk were found throughout what is now Missouri, from the prairies in the north to the extensive bottomland forests in the Bootheel. In the early 1800s, habitat destruction and over-harvest caused a rapid decline in elk numbers. Historical accounts indicate free-ranging elk were likely gone from the state by 1865. Today, a free-ranging elk occasionally appears in Missouri. Typically, it’s an escaped captive elk, but some might be immigrants from free-ranging herds in other states. The nearest free-ranging elk herd is along the Buffalo River in northwestern Arkansas. Other nearby states–including Oklahoma, Kansas, Kentucky and Nebraska–also have free-ranging elk herds that could serve as sources of immigrant elk.
