The drought has caused a third of the tule elk that live in the fenced enclosure on Tomales Point to perish from malnutrition. The decline is the fourth on record, and it aligns with the boom-and-bust cycle the park service predicted after reintroducing the species to the Point Reyes National Seashore in 1978.
In 2020, the fenced herd dropped from 445 to 293 animals, while the park’s two free-ranging herds remained more stable. Based in…