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Old 02-06-2005, 03:28 PM
  #30  
cherokee_outfitters
Typical Buck
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
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Default RE: Elk Moose hybrid, Melk

I don't know if a moose and a elk would successfully breed. But I do know in the right conditions nature will throw genes back into the mix that have been recessive for a long time. Cross breeding is very possible but most of the successful ones are done in a lab.

Is a melk possible? Irish elk existed less than a 1000 years ago before being exstinct. An irish elk is a monster of an animal. More leaning towards the stag in looks but truly massive. I've seen one rack of an Irish elk in the denver museum of natural history that had a spread of over 11 feet. Looked partly moose and partly elk. Can genes from a long time ago come back. Under the perfect gene combinations and conditions sure they can. Highly impossible though.

When elk have large massive racks alot of bulls tend to have crowns. This comes from their first cousins the red stags. Genetics are not pure and species can be very close in the gene pool to accept dna from another species. Example mule deer and whitetail is probally the most common two species that will actually breed and have fawns that survive the gene combination.

never say never
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