Overview
Differs from the Tian Shan wapiti in being slightly smaller and paler in color, and having some minor skull differences. Winter coat is a light grayish-brown or yellowish-brown, with the head, neck, belly and legs a darker brown. Females are more evenly colored, without the darkening on sides and belly. Males in summer are a more uniform reddish-brown without the dark belly and with the rump patch more vividly reddish. Females in summer are similar to males, though somewhat darker with a fairly distinct dorsal stripe. Best antlers of record had a 54-inch (137.2 cm) beam length, 42-1/8-inch (107.0 cm) inside spread, and 14 total points (Rowland Ward, 1988).
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammal
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Cervidae
- Genus
- Cervus
- Species
- Cervus canadensis
Habitat
Forested hills. Distribution- China: Altai Mountains of northern Xinjiang. Russia: The Altai, Sayan, and Baikal regions of Siberia. Mongolia: Northwestern and north-central parts. Boundaries with the Manchurian wapiti to the east are unclear.
Diet
This animal both grazes and browses based on seasonal availability.
Behavior
Wapiti are highly adaptive herd animals that thrive in forest habitats. Wapiti will feed in both the morning and then hide out in dark timber to digest their food, conserve energy and remain cool during the heat of the day. During the summer months, wapiti will go high into mountains to take advantage of cooler temperatures. In the winter, they will migrate to lower elevations for shelter from bad weather and for more available food sources. The breeding season begins in early fall, when bulls will separate from each other and start seeking out suitable cows to join their harem. A harem is a bull’s group of suitable cows that he will travel and eventually mate with. Harems can eventually include up to 20 cows during a mating season. To attract cows, bulls will dig out watery marsh-like holes, lay in them and urinate in them. These stinky, murky mud baths are called wallows. The reason they use wallows is to coat themselves with their own sexually pungent odor. By coating themselves in this manner, sexually willing cows can find them from a great distance with their noses. Once a bull has cows in his harem he is very protective of them and will fend off other bulls.
Hunting
Boats are used for transportation around the hunting area. The hunt is classical spot-and-stalk. Hunting by calling mature stags during the rut is also successful. Maral is often spotted right from the boat. Be prepared for extensive walking. The hills are not very high, up to 6,500 ft (1,981 m), however the forested terrain is rather demanding.
Conservation Status
Listed as Least Concern by IUCN. However this classification refers to the species as a whole, not the Altai Wapiti specifically. Population estimates for this subspecies are not well-defined.