A Meat and Dairy Article from All-Creatures.org



Where Do Tule Elk Stand Now?

From IDA In Defense of Animals
February 2024

Cows raised to produce dairy products were allowed grazing land and access to water. Tule Elk were fenced off from water sources. Now, more and newer industry public relations continue. You’ll be hearing about 'regenerative ranching,' a new-ish term piled atop the steamy heap of words like, 'sustainable' and 'small' and 'local' and 'historic' and 'family-owned.' These terms sound good because they are designed to — but mean nothing legally.

Tule Elk Cow
From IDA In Defense of Animals Tree Spirit Project

Have you been wondering what’s up with the big, beautiful Tule elk at Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, California? Are they okay? Do the elk have enough water? Enough food? Haven’t they been freed yet? And what about all those private, polluting cattle ranchers who were already paid to leave, but refused to do so in the park? Will they ever, finally, be forced to leave? Well, here’s an update to answer many of your questions.

How Are the Tule Elk Inside the Point Reyes Tule Elk Reserve Doing Right Now?

They are doing well, thanks for asking! They have adequate food and water because it’s the rainy season in California, and 2024 is already a very rainy year, as was last year: Marin County reservoirs are full as of February 1, 2024.

The ponds inside the fenced Tule Elk Reserve — home of the largest of the three Point Reyes elk herds — are full. Lots of rain means vegetation is now lush, so elk have plenty of forage to eat. We expect these conditions to last into the summer. From there it depends on how hot and dry the summer and autumn are. But by autumn, the fence may be close to being dismantled. This leads us to our next question.

Is the Tule Elk Reserve Fence Going to Come Down?

The National Park Service (NPS), which manages the park and the cattle ranch leases, made a historic recommendation in June 2023 to remove the fence that defines the 2,600-acre Tule Elk Reserve.
This was our big victory last year: for the first time in 45 years, since the Reserve was created in 1978, the herd within — currently about 250 Tule elk, and likely more with 2024 spring births — would gain access to more of the park’s full 71,000 acres.

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Please read the ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE.

Including:

  • Is the Tule Elk Reserve Fence Going to Come Down?
  • Is Massive Cattle Ranch Manure Pollution Still Ongoing at Point Reyes?
  • How Bad Is the Water and Soil Pollution by the Cattle Industry?
  • What’s the Status of the Tule Elk Lawsuits?
  • What's Next?
  • Can Tule Elk Be Shot? Wasn’t This A Possibility?
  • We Expect the Cattle Industry to Continue its Propaganda War
  • The Path Ahead; Our Work Continues

Tule Elk's skeleton
Skeleton of one of the Elk who died of thirst.

dead Tule Elk
Another elk who died of thirst.


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