After several attempts, wildlife officers remove tire that was around an elk's neck for over two years

For two years, an elk was seen with a tire around its neck. Now, after several attempts, wildlife officials have freed the animal of the rubber hindrance.

The bull elk was first spotted by a Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) officer in 2019 conducting a population survey of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and mountain goats in the Mount Evans Wilderness, about 30 miles west of Denver, according to a news release from CPW on Monday.

"Being up in the wilderness, we didn't really expect to be able to get our hands on the elk just because of the proximity or the distance away from civilization," CPW officer Scott Murdoch said in the release. "It is harder to get the further they are back in there and usually the further these elk are away from people, the wilder they act. That certainly played true the last couple of years, this elk was difficult to find, and harder to get close to."