We offer our perspectives on challenges facing the wildlife profession if h
abituation behavior becomes prevalent in North American elk (Cervus elaphus
). We find it increasingly difficult to ignore habituation in our work with
elk and the public in western Montana. The scientific literature documents
elk avoidance responses to human activities, but does not provide informat
ion to managers that would reconcile apparent contradictions we observe of
elk habituation responses in urban fringe areas. Conversations with elk man
agers and researchers across western North America suggest that elk habitua
tion is a management issue of emerging importance as elk and human populati
ons expand. We examine habituation as an adaptive behavioral strategy for m
aximizing reproductive fitness and predict that habituated elk populations
will be common across the Rocky Mountain west in the 21(st) century. To red
uce habituation risk, managers should consider options that may differ radi
cally from traditional elk management strategies (i.e., to protect elk habi
tat). We challenge researchers to describe relationships between increasing
levels of habituation in elk and environmental factors within management c
ontrol.