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The four and a half year old male had to be sedated first. His antlers were then also removed, a Colorado Parks and Wildlife region account wrote on Twitter. “We would have preferred to cut the tire to save the antlers,” wildlife manager Scott Murdoch said in a statement Monday. But there was no other option; inside the wheel was a steel frame that they couldn’t cut through.
The animal has a small wound from the rescue action and he is also missing some hair on his neck.
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Ⓒ Colorado Parks and Wildlife
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Ⓒ Colorado Parks and Wildlife
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The male has had to carry quite a few kilos with him over the past two years. The tire had become very heavy, because there was all kinds of pine needles and dirt in it. At one point, the obstacle weighed a whopping 16 pounds. The deer was therefore in very good condition after removal.
rutting season
The deer was first spotted in 2019 with a band around its neck. The animal, which weighs a whopping 270 kilograms, was seen in several places but disappeared in the winter for a longer period.
Previous attempts to rescue the animal were hampered because conservationists couldn’t get close enough. But because it is now rutting season, it finally worked.
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