A moose in Colorado spent two years in the wild with a heavy tire around his neck – now rangers could free him from the load. To do this, however, they had to take another measure.
It took the rangers four attempts to help the animal: A deer in the US state of Colorado had a hoop around its neck for two years. Now the rangers were able to free him from it.
However, the two rangers Dawson Swanson and Scott Murdoch had to cut off their antlers during the action on Saturday, the state agency Colorado Parks and Wildlife reported on Monday. Before that, the four and a half year old, weighing over 270 kilograms, had to be lured and anesthetized from a pack of 40 animals. The moose was first spotted with the hoop around its neck in July 2019.
The two park rangers estimated that the elk had lost almost 16 kilograms from the removal of its antlers and hoops. “The tire was full of wet pine needles and dirt,” said Murdoch. There were probably five kilograms of garbage in the tire.
Actually, they would have preferred to cut up the hoop and not remove the antlers – for the moose’s rutting activities, Murdoch said. But it was not possible to cut through the steel in the tire. Fortunately, there was still a little room around the neck. The animal only had a small wound under the tire – and the hair was a little rubbed off.
The young deer got the hoop either as a calf around its neck or in winter when it shed its antlers, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said. It could be that the curious animal stuck its head in a pile of tires. Game rangers have already seen smaller deer, bears and other wild animals get caught in swings, hammocks, clotheslines, soccer goals or volleyball nets – and stick their heads in objects with which they then run away. Therefore, residents should keep their property free of obstacles.
Wapitis can weigh up to 450 kilograms. The antlers reach a length of up to 1.50 meters and weigh up to 15 kilograms. Every year from February the bone antlers are shed. They grow back until late summer to demonstrate the wearer’s strength and health during the rut in autumn.
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