Wapiti are seen periodically; probably they wander in from the higher
mountains to the northeast and do not remain for long. The following
note was included in the 1921 report of Mr. Jesse L. Nusbaum, then
Superintendent of the Park: "The first elk ever seen in the Park made
his appearance near the head of Navajo Canyon, August 15 of this year,
and travelled for two miles in front of a Ford car down the main road
before another car, travelling in the opposite direction, scared him
into the timber." Additional observations have been recorded as follows:
School Section Canyon ("fall" 1935), Knife Edge Road (July, 1940), West
Soda Canyon and Windy Point (December, 1949), Long Canyon (July, 1959),
and Park Entrance (December, 1959). Three of the six observations are in
July and August; therefore movement by wapiti into the Park can not be
attributed entirely to disturbance during the hunting season.