Wildlife officials said that an elusive elk that had been traversing the
Colorado highlands for at least two years while wearing a vehicle tire
around its neck had finally been liberated.
According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the 600-pound,
four-and-a-half-year-old male elk was tranquilized on Saturday evening after
being sighted close to Pine Junction, southwest of Denver.
The agency's officers were unable to cut through the steel in the tire's
bead, so they had to remove the burden by cutting off the elk's five-point
antlers.
Since the situation was fluid, officer Scott Murdoch stated, "We would have
preferred to cut the tire and leave the antlers for his rutting activity,
but we had to just get the tire off in any way possible."
Elk finally has tire removed from its neck after two years, according to
wildlife officials. The elusive elk had been traversing the Colorado
highlands with a vehicle tire around its neck for at least two years.
Before the tire was taken off, the rangers said that the elk (on the right)
had been seen on surveillance film multiple times and that they had worried
for its life.
Elk in distress was spotted wandering the woodlands with a tire around its
neck. Mr. Murdoch and his companion officer, Dawson Swanson, calculated that
the elk lost 35 pounds when the tire, antlers, and other debris were
removed.
The tire was loaded with mud and damp pine needles, according to Murdoch.
In essence, the tire's bottom half was completely covered in pine needles,
mud, and other debris. Probably ten pounds' worth of debris were within the
tire.
According to wildlife officer Swanson, they were able to find the animal
thanks to a tip from a nearby homeowner.
I was able to react swiftly to a complaint from a nearby homeowner about a
recent sighting of this bull elk in their area, the man stated. The bull in
issue and a herd of around 40 other elk were both easy to find.
Officers had attempted to tranquilize the elk four times in a week before
their successful operation on Saturday.
In July 2019, while performing a population census for Rocky Mountain
bighorn sheep and mountain goats in the Mount Evans Wilderness, wildlife
officials discovered the elk with the tire around its neck for the first
time.
Deer, elk, moose, bears, and other animals, they claim, have been tangled
in a variety of objects, including swing sets, hammocks, clothes lines,
holiday or ornamental lights, furniture, tomato cages, chicken feeders,
laundry baskets, football goals, and volleyball nets.
The organization made a public plea for information last year in an effort
to find the elk.
Previously, the group released video taken by one of their trail cameras
that showed the animal roaming through the Arapahoe-Roosevelt National
Forest with the tube caught over its head.
The elk had been seen on surveillance camera multiple times, according to
rangers, and they had worried for its survival prior to removing the
tire.
CPW spokeswoman Jason Clay previously told Fox 31 that it is common for
rangers to find elk with various things stuck to their antlers and
necks.
We see it much too frequently, whether it's, say, a tire around its neck,
Christmas lights, rope, or a hammock entangled in it. Sadly, that occurs
frequently here in Colorado,' he added.
Additionally, the general people has previously been cautioned about
attempting to take off the tire themselves.
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animals