B.C. elk wears antler-full of inner tube after second year tangling with trash

YOUBOU, B.C. — A Vancouver Island elk is once again festooned in debris, the second year in a row the young male has inadvertently decorated itself during mating season.

Conservation officer Scott Norris says the elk has managed to entwine a deflated inner tube in its antlers while wandering in bush near Youbou, west of Duncan.

Norris says the elk had to be felled last year by a tranquilizer so officers could unwind some rope and a tarpaulin it had wrapped around its head, limiting its sight and preventing it from feeding properly.

Norris says the deflated inner tube doesn’t seem to bother the animal and there’s hope conservation officers won’t have to intervene this year.

Young bull elk can show aggression during mating season by beating their antlers on bushes, and Norris says that’s likely how this elk became entangled for a second time.

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Conservation officers and animal safety groups say the elk, this year dubbed Tuber, will be closely watched to ensure his rubber headgear doesn’t cause him any harm. (CFAX)

The Canadian Press