Colorado wildlife officials have growing concerns that a yearling female elk raised from a calf by a woman west of Boulder, seen as a cute curiosity by some, is a cautionary tale that could end badly.
In fact, Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff have raised the possibility that the animal could need to be put down, should its interactions with humans take a bad turn.
Some call the elk Marie, and others know her as Maybelle. But along Cougar Drive near Walker Ranch, it seems everyone knows the animal, which they say was raised by a woman who has since moved from the area after a house fire heavily damaged her residence Jan. 15.
Several people have repeated a story that the elk was taken in by that woman after its mother was struck and killed by a car.
“That is not confirmed,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife District Wildlife Manager Peter Boyatt said. “It is all speculation and rumor.”
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