Push to reintroduce elk began in the late 1990s,

Ontario’s efforts to reintroduce elk into the province began in the late 1990s when hundreds of animals were transplanted from Alberta to replace elk who had nearly disappeared as a result of pressures from human settlement and an unregulated harvest.

The Ministry of Natural Resource’s elk restoration project launched in 1998 and by 2001, 443 elk had been moved from Alberta’s Elk Island National Park to sites across Ontario, according to the ministry’s website.

The Bancroft and North Hastings area received 120 of the animals, with more being released near Nipissing and French River, along the north shore of Lake Huron and around Lake of the Woods, near the Ontario-Manitoba border.

According to the ministry’s website, it’s estimated there were between 293 and 476 elk living in the Bancroft area in 2012, making up as much as half of the total estimated elk population for the province in the areas where the animals were reintroduced.

“Everyone can appreciate the intrinsic value of elk,” reads the ministry’s webpage. “One of Ontario’s largest mammals, this majestic animal is once again an important part of Ontario’s ecosystems and biodiversity. Elk also provide opportunities for recreation such as viewing and hunting.”

The most recent elk restoration project marked the third time efforts had been made to reintroduce the animal to Ontario. Attempts to reintroduce elk to southern Ontario and Algonquin Park were unsuccessful in the early 1900s, and another attempt to move the animals from Alberta in 1930 also failed, according to the ministry’s website.

According to the ministry, the high concentration of elk in holding facilities created conditions that caused the animals to be infested with liver fluke and concerns regarding their health led to the extermination of nearly all the transplanted elk.