Colorado wildlife officials rescue elk tangled in rope on ice climbing route

LAKE CITY, Colo. (AP) — Wildlife officials and several climbers rescued a bull elk by lowering it from a cliff after the animal became tangled in a rope at a popular ice climbing area in southwest Colorado.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said a group of ice climbers in Lake City encountered the moose in distress Friday morning, and a CPW biologist tranquilized the ungulate and covered part of his head with a ski mask to protect his eyes during the rescue.

The team cut the rope from the elk’s antlers, but needed a way to get the 700-pound (318-kilogram) animal down the climbing wall.

That’s when ice climbers who reported the stranded moose came to the rescue, helping state wildlife officials install a system using two ropes – one under its chest and another along its timbers – to lower it to the base of the road. Once the moose was on flatter ground, the CPW team reversed the effects of the tranquilizer and, approximately 12 minutes later, the moose awoke and fled into the snowy canyon .

“When we reverse this tranquilizing medication, it can take several minutes for the animal to regain full use of its body. Sometimes they will get up quickly but still be dazed, or sometimes it will take them a few attempts to get up completely,” said John Livingston, a spokesman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

He said the 2 1/2-year-old moose had gotten stuck the night before and was discovered at dawn, tired and with a few minor scratches from trying to free itself. It took more than two hours to free the unfortunate animal.

Elk sometimes have their bulky antlers tangled in man-made hazards such as clotheslines, fences and hammocks.

Originally published: January 7, 2025 at 4:11 p.m. MST