Wildlife officials free elk from tire he was stuck in for 2Yrs

• A young bull elk was spotted with a tire around its neck about 2 years ago, but it was difficult for wildlife officials to track it and get close to it.
• Finally, last Saturday night, they managed to get close enough to tranquilize it and free it from its burden.
• With the tire removed, the elk has shed about 35 pounds, and is now recovering with his herd.

The officials from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) Northeast region were finally able to free an elk from the tire that has been stuck around his neck for over two years.

The young bull elk was first spotted in 2019 by a wildlife official who was counting sheep in the Mount Evans wilderness.

Wildlife officer Scott Murdoch explained that freeing the elk from the tire is not an easy task.

“The further these elk are away from people, the wilder they act. That certainly played true the last couple of years. This elk was difficult to find and harder to get close to,” he said.

They attempted to get close to him for years, but to no avail. Finally, last Saturday night, the perfect opportunity presented itself.

A local resident reported a sighting of the elk in their neighborhood, said wildlife officer Dawson Swanson.

Swanson managed to locate the 600-pound bull elk among a herd of about 40 other elk. He then got a clear shot and was able to tranquilize him.

Murdoch arrived shortly after to help him with the tire removal. They had to cut the elk’s antlers off to facilitate the removal.

“It was tight removing it. We had to move it just right to get it off because we weren’t able to cut the steel in the bead of the tire,” he explained.

Why we cut the antlers off & not the tire:

1⃣ We tried, sawzall was slow going thru steel in the bead of the tire
2⃣ The animal was under anesthesia, time was limited
3⃣ Does not harm the elk, will grow back next year
4⃣ Reduces the chance the bull would be harvested this year pic.twitter.com/C24rgd5krs— CPW NE Region (@CPW_NE) October 12, 2021

Moments later, the tire was removed, dropping 35 pounds off the poor elk.

“The tire was full of wet pine needles and dirt. There was probably 10 pounds of debris in the tire,” said Murdoch.

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

Fortunately, the tire didn’t cause too much damage to the elk’s neck, aside from a little rubbed off hair and a “small open wound maybe the size of a nickel or quarter,” said Murdoch.

The elk is expected to heal quickly, and has since returned to his herd. Thanks to the locals and the wildlife officials, a weight has been literally lifted off his neck.

As a lesson from the experience, Murdoch requests everyone living near wildlife to help clean up their properties of obstacles that could potentially impede wildlife movement or entangle them.

Source: The Dodo