[4] In December 1897, mammalogist C. Hart Merriam named the subspecies after his friend Theodore Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the US Navy.

Later in 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the region and saw the elk named after his relative.

[citation needed] From late spring to early fall, the Roosevelt elk feeds upon herbaceous plants, such as grasses and sedges.

[6] In 2018, the New York State Zoo had a Roosevelt elk named Rosie die in August of that year at the age of 26, which means it was one of the oldest at that time.

This elk subspecies, Cervus canadensis roosevelti, was reintroduced to British Columbia's Sunshine Coast from Vancouver Island in 1986.