A ‘Gang’ of Elk?
If a bunch of lions is a pride and a batch of crows is a murder, what do you call a group of elk? The answer may surprise you. According to a list of animal congregations offered by the US Geological Survey, the term for a plural grouping for elk is none other than a gang.
Gang? What about herd? To be fair, other sources such as the Oxford Dictionary do refer to a group of elk as a gang or a herd. And if you think about it, gang does ring true at times, especially if you are a farmer or rancher with elk raiding your crops and rampaging your fences to the ground.
It turns out gang is also applied to bison, weasels and turkeys. Other species have their own unique group names as well, according to The Book of Saint Albans, an essay on hunting published in 1486. How about a tribe of antelope, a tower of giraffes, a parliament of owls or a waddle of penguins?
A gang of elk might not be so farfetched after all.
Elk NetworkA ‘Gang’ of Elk?
Conservation | April 17, 2018
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