Elk are the second largest species in the deer family and one of the largest mammals native to North America. They are also found in Europe and Central Asia. Apart from their impressive size (ranging up to 1,000 pounds), they are recognizable by their distinctive antlers and social behavior. They generally live in or near forests. Elk are eaten, but not widely. Elk are not farmed on a large scale, but they are hunted. Their meat is considered a specialty food.
Because elk are ruminants with split hooves that chew their cud, technically elk are kosher. However, for any land animal to be permissible, it must be slaughtered in accordance with Jewish law. This would mean that an animal shot with a gun could not be eaten. Instead, the animal would have to be slaughtered with a knife in accordance with kosher slaughtering techniques and the blood would need to be removed from the meat. In practice, it is difficult to find elk meat that has been obtained in this manner. Similarly, venison is also technically kosher (for the same reasons). But it’s practically impossible to obtain kosher venison because that typically involves trapping a live animal without injuring it and then slaughtering it in accordance with Jewish law. This is difficult to scale, but possible, which is why kosher venison is available but pricey.
