An elk had a car tire stuck around its neck for over 2 years. It's finally free.
For more than two years, wildlife officers tracked an elk that was spotted with a tire around its neck. Saturday, the elk was found and, at long last, it is free of the tire.
Wildlife officers tranquilized the elk, sawed off its antlers and removed the tire that had been around its neck for half of its life, according to a statement from Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
"The saga of the bull elk with a tire around its neck is over," the department tweeted Monday.
Wildlife officer Jared Lamb first spotted the elk in July 2019 as he counted bighorn sheep and mountain goats in the Mount Evans Wilderness, according to the statement from Colorado Parks and Wildlife
The elk seemed to be only two years old at the time, CPW said.
After Lamb saw the elk, a trail camera near Conifer — an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, about 30 miles southwest of Denver — captured the elk twice in 2020 before another trail camera picked it up later that year, CPW said. The elk kept disappearing.
In May and June 2021, wildlife officials tried and failed four times to catch up to the elk as they pieced together trail camera footage and tips from community members.
"This elk was difficult to find, and harder to get close to," said wildlife officer Scott Murdoch in the statement.
After a report from a resident, wildlife officials found the elk earlier this month amid a herd of about 40 other elk, according to CPW. They tried to tranquilize the elk to no avail.
Wildlife officer Dawson Swanson found the elk again with a herd on Saturday and managed to tranquilize it.
Murdoch came to help Swanson free the elk, now more than 4 years old and over 600 pounds.
Murdoch and Swanson both wanted to leave the elk's antlers on but they said they wouldn't be able to cut through the steel in the bead of the tire without removing its antlers.
"It was tight removing it,” Murdoch said in the statement. "...We had to just get the tire off in any way possible."
When they removed the tire, it was full of nearly 10 pounds of pine needles and dirt, according to CPW. But Murdoch was surprised that there was little damage to the elk's neck, only a small wound and areas where hair had rubbed off slightly.
Within minutes of removing the tire, the elk was back on its feet, Swanson said.
The elk likely got the tire around its neck when it was young, before it had grown antlers or during the winter when it shed its antlers, wildlife officials said.
Wildlife officials have also seen deer, elk, moose and bears get caught in swing sets, hammocks, clothing lines, laundry baskets, soccer goals and more. It's not the first time an animal has gotten caught in a tire, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said.
"The saga of this bull elk highlights the need for residents to live responsibly with wildlife in mind," Colorado Parks and Wildlife said in a statement. "That includes keeping your property free of obstacles that wildlife can get tangled in or injured by."
Contact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Colorado Parks and Wildlife free elk with car tire stuck around neck
