Nevada mammals

Elk in Nevada

Cervus canadensis

Native to Nevada S5 Secure in Nevada

Not listed as nonindigenous in Nevada by USGS NAS; native to its Nevada range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Elk in Nevada, by the numbers

Common in Nevada 37th most recorded of 142 mammals logged in Nevada

193 occurrence records
193 with iNaturalist photos
Jun 28, 2026 Last seen in Nevada

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Elk in Nevada

Most sightings fall in April to October.

193 Nevada occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Nevada records (table)
MonthRecords
January8
February3
March9
April19
May22
June25
July24
August20
September16
October25
November13
December9

Monthly elk occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Nevada, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Nevada, with recorded sightings peaking in April–October.

Occurrence map

Where Elk has been recorded in Nevada

193 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

193 Nevada records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Great Basin National Park 16
Mt. Moriah Wilderness 5
Spring Mountains 4
La Madre Mountain Wilderness 4
Snake Range 2
Ruby Mountains Wilderness 2
Spring Valley State Park 2
Schell Creek Range 1

Protected places with the most elk sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in Nevada

CountyRecords
White Pine County 103
Clark County 36
Elko County 24
Lincoln County 19
Nye County 7
Washoe County 2
Lander County 1
Eureka County 1

The complete county distribution, spread across 8 Nevada counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Nevada records for the elk are anchored by Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and Great Basin National Park. They show where people have reported it, not how many animals live there.

The Nevada records bridge the state’s southern desert country and its higher central or northern ranges. That broad spread matters more than any single hotspot. The strongest reporting falls in summer, when Nevada’s high country is easiest to reach but low deserts are hottest. That may shape where observers submit records.

The file combines 193 research-grade iNaturalist records and 172 GBIF records. Those 365 records measure documented encounters, not Nevada’s population size. It’s native to Nevada. Nevada doesn’t specifically list it under the state’s conservation framework, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Elk in other states

View all states →

More mammals in Nevada in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"