The driving force behind NZ expansion was the Near East’s demand for elk and deer products, particularly for such items as antlers, tails, pelts, etc., much for pharmaceutical use. The red deer-elk hybrid market has now matured into both velvet and meat production. The NZ business continued to thrive and expanded to over one million deer-family animals. New Zealand has a 20-year lead in the husbandry of elk and deer. Over the years, these animals mingled with imported European Red Deer and survived well in NZ’s lush forests and glens where they were later captured and domesticated by game ranchers. President Theodore Roosevelt seems to have created the New Zealand (NZ) industry by shipping a small excess elk herd from Wyoming’s newly formed Yellowstone National Park in the early 1900’s. Until recently, only New Zealand has had a thriving red deer, elk and elk-hybrid business dating from the early 1960’s. They are direct relatives of European and Asian red deer and will still interbreed with them. Theoretically, all North American elk varieties are derived from Siberian stock, which migrated across the Alaska land bridge during the ice ages, hundreds of thousands of years ago. To the American Indians, the elk also had spiritual and religious connotations. Legends suggest that the American Indians had domesticated Wapiti like horses. Europeans also have domesticated deer for hundreds of years. Siberian natives have been domesticating elk and deer for thousands of years. Today, over 1000 game ranches hold approximately 120,000 animals, predominantly for breeding and velvet purposes. Until the 1960’s very few elk were commercially raised, mostly for zoos, game ranches or selective sport hunting. Animals are expertly “farmed” to produce the maximum value offspring annually which can be sold at fluctuating market prices.Įlk farming is relatively new here in the United States. These markets are supplied with animals from an escalating breeding industry. Controlled “sport” hunting is also gaining popularity. Nutritionally superior elk meat (AKA venison) is becoming more popular and is developing rapidly. Recent research in North American has declared antler velvet effective for nutritional joint support and maintenance. Annually, bull elk produce “velvet” or soft antler, highly valued by East Asian cultures. Elk, more accurately described as “Wapiti”, are a magnificent and unique animal possessing several attributes suitable for business development. Summary: Commercial Elk Farming is a relatively new agricultural industry for Western civilization and the United States. Mountain Velvet, Ltd., Del Norte, Colorado
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