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Wapiti
        
                        WAPITI, also American elk, common name for a ruminant mammal, Cervus
                        elaphus, belonging to the deer family, Cervidae, native to the northern part of the
                        western hemisphere and conspecific with the red deer of Europe and Asia. It has
                        dark brown fur on the head and neck, and creamy gray fur on the back and flanks. A
                        full-grown stag stands about 1.7 m (about 5.5 ft) high at the shoulder, and weighs
                        about 315 kg (about 700 lb). The antlers are smooth and attain a great size,
                        averaging more than 1.2 m (4 ft) each in length. The antlers are shed in March,
                        begin to grow again in late spring, and are fully grown by fall. Wapiti graze and
                        browse on grasses, twigs, leaves, and other green vegetation. 

                        The wapiti formerly ranged throughout the temperate regions of the western
                        hemisphere, but the advance of civilization limited its range and caused huge herds
                        to be slaughtered for food and sport. The animal is now largely restricted to the
                        mountainous areas of the western U.S. and Canada. The stags live apart from the
                        main herd during most of the year, joining the herd only during the mating season.
                        At this time the stags fight over the right to the females, accompanying these fights
                        with a braying call that has earned the animals the name of jackass deer in certain
                        sections of the Rocky Mountains. In late spring wapiti leave the lowlands and
                        migrate to the upper reaches of the mountain forests. The doe bears a single fawn
                        soon after reaching the forest.