Elk once roamed widely across Pennsylvania, from the Allegheny National Forest to Kettle Creek State Park, where the bugles of male bulls called female cows to mate. By the mid-1800s, the population had been reduced to a small area in Elk County, and the last native Pennsylvania elk was killed near Ridgway in 1867. Recognizing their historic and geographic importance, the Pennsylvania Game Commission worked to restore the herd, releasing 177 elk from the Rocky Mountains between 1913 and 1926 and providing a safe haven where they could live and breed. Today, Pennsylvania's elk population has rebounded to about 600 animals, with calves born every year, and the region's wildlife can be observed along the 127-mile Elk Scenic Drive through three state forests and three state game lands, including sites at Gilbert Farm, Dent's Run on Winslow Hill, and the Hicks Run Wildlife Viewing area.