Ya Ha Tinda Government Ranch is near Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. The ranch’s 3,945 hectares run along the Red Deer River for 27 kilometers. Approximately 1/3 of the ranch is natural grassland and 2/3 is mixed forest. The Ya Ha Tinda is private property owned and managed by Parks Canada. This ranch is the only federally operated working horse ranch in Canada. Horses are wintered and trained here to be used as working horses for patrolling and protecting Canada's Western National Parks.

Ya Ha Tinda is home to what was once the biggest elk herd in Alberta, peaking at more than 2,000 individuals in the early 1990s. Now the Ya Ha Tinda herd has declined to a current estimate of approximately 300 animals. The herd is partially migratory, with residents that live at the ranch year-round, western migrants that leave each summer for higher elevations in Banff National Park, and eastern migrants that summer around Mountain Aire Lodge and the Dogrib Burn.

Winter is usually mild in Ya Ha Tinda. The warming downslope winds blow through the valley and prevent much snow accumulation. Good-quality fescue grasslands, along with the relatively mild weather, and the predatory refuge provided by proximity to humans, makes Ya Ha Tinda the ideal winter range for elk.

Image: Location of the Ya Ha Tinda elk population study area on the eastern slopes of Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada, showing Ya Ha Tinda Ranch, major rivers, Alberta Wildlife Management Units (WMUs), and distribution of radiocollared elk from 2001 to 2004 during summer. Areas above 2,300 m are shaded gray.