For more than two years, wildlife officers in Colorado have been tracking a bull elk that was spotted with a tire around its neck.
The elk’s tire saga is finally over. Wildlife officer Jared Lamb first spotted the elk in 2019 as he was counting animals in the Mount Evans Wilderness. He was only two years old at the time. Then a trail camera near Jefferson County captured the elk twice in 2020 before another trail camera picked it up later that year.
In May and June of 2021, wildlife officers tried and failed four times to catch up to the elk. Wildlife officer Scott Murdoch said in a statement, “This elk was difficult to find, and harder to get close to.”
Then comes this month when they received a report from a resident. Wildlife officers found the elk amid a herd of about 40 other elk. After a month of trying to get close, they finally were able to tranquilize it. They sawed off its antlers and removed the tire as seen in Colorado Parks and Wildlife photos posted to Twitter.
The elk is now free, more than 4 years old and 600 pounds.
The saga of the bull elk with a tire around its neck is over. Thanks to the residents just south of Pine Junction on CR 126 for reporting its location, wildlife officers were able to free it of that tire Saturday.
Story: https://t.co/WHfkfPuAck
📸’s courtesy of Pat Hemstreet pic.twitter.com/OcnceuZrpk— CPW NE Region (@CPW_NE) October 11, 2021
