A Eurasian elk is a deer with long legs and a large muzzle. It uses forests and waterside habitats in places such as northern Europe.
The upper lip overhangs the lower one. Males grow antlers, but European elk do not always have broad, flattened antlers.
Eurasian elk may stop feeding and raise their ears when they hear a notable sound. They can remain vigilant or leave. Their responses reflect the competing demands of feeding and checking for danger.
From May to July 2020, an experiment in south-central Sweden played human speech, dog barks and bird sounds at eight saltlick sites. Motion-triggered systems played sounds for 20 seconds within a 60-second recording. Researchers compared behaviour with silent controls across 696 video events containing elk.
Elk were more likely to leave after hearing the human recording. Dog barks prompted longer vigilance and less feeding while animals more often remained. Bird sounds also elicited responses, but vigilance returned toward its earlier level after playback. Distinguishing these behaviours revealed different ways of responding to the recordings.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The study considers whether acoustic responses could help move elk away from roads, railways, farmland and forest plantations where conflicts arise. Because the experiment used saltlicks, the authors call for context-specific field tests addressing habituation, available cover and playback frequency before applying the approach to reduce collisions or damage.