Lawsuit alleges mistreatment of tule elk at Point Reyes, where many have died

Harvard Law School’s Animal Law and Policy Clinic filed a lawsuit against the National Park Service this week, accusing the park service of negligence by allowing tule elk in Point Reyes National Seashore to die of starvation or dehydration.

Since last year, 152 elk, more than a third of the population, have died, which the lawsuit alleges is due to a fence the park service maintains that prevents the elk from foraging into the south side of their habitat, where the park service leases to private ranchers. Harvard’s Animal Law and Policy Clinic filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Animal Legal Defense Fund and multiple Californians who witnessed emaciated and dead elk at Point Reyes.