[imagesource: Screenshot of Dan Jaynes trailcam by Amanda Kooser/CNET]

Over the weekend, a bull elk in Colorado had a great weight lifted from his shoulders.

The four-year-old elk, already massive at 270 kilograms, was carrying a 16kg car tyre for two whole years.

Finally, he was freed from the oversized necklace on Saturday after being caught and tranquilised by Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers.

The Guardian reported that this time was the fourth attempt wildlife officers had made in the past week to try to capture and help it.

Unfortunately, the officers had to cut off the elk’s five-point antlers to get the tire off, but at least that is not as horrifying as it sounds.

Bull elks shed their antlers annually, so this one will just be ahead of its herd for a little while:

“We would have preferred to cut the tyre and leave the antlers for his rutting activity, but the situation was dynamic and we had to just get the tyre off in any way possible,” officer Scott Murdoch said.

This video shows the ordeal ending in success:

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

Fellow officer Dawson Swanson said that he was grateful to be able to work in a community that values their state’s wildlife resource, adding that:

“I was able to quickly respond to a report from a local resident regarding a recent sighting of this bull elk in their neighbourhood. I was able to locate the bull in question along with a herd of about 40 other elk.”

After two years with a tire around its neck, you would think that the elk would have more than a few small injuries, but apparently, this bull elk is a lot stronger than expected:

“The hair was rubbed off a little bit, there was one small open wound maybe the size of a nickel or quarter, but other than that it looked really good,” Murdoch said. “I was actually quite shocked to see how good it looked.”

The rutting season, which is breeding season for elks, is underway, making the bull elks slightly more aggressive than usual.

Murdoch said that the “rut definitely made him more visible”, though, which is why they were able to find him and help him.

Good riddance, ugly tyre.

Unless this elk is actually missing his rubber swag…

[source:theguardian]