Punished enough ...?!?

Verdon, a good photo showing the down side of trying to restore over used areas in RMNP. If the wire is not interfering with his ability to feed and is not around his neck (I can't tell from the photo) then it should not be a problem and will fix itself when he drops his antlers, which should be around the end of the year. However, there is the risk of his getting the wire snagged and not being able to free himself. I do understand the need to restore areas of the Park. This is what I was told in 2010 when I last visited. I wish you had posted this as a larger image so I could better see the wire. From the expression I would guess he is still in rut and would be difficult to approach to tranqilize, and that of course is also risky. Good photo for this gallery, thanks for sharing.

It's pretty common for elk to "tangle" with fences, though I've rarely seen them with wire tangled on them. I'm guessing that the NPS picked their wire carefully so that it would break, but didn't have this outcome in mind. I'm guessing that unless the wire tangled its legs, it could survive this just fine, but that's me looking from afar.

Did you point it out to NPS and ask their opinion?

he had a wire around his body too, but it wasn't problem for his movement....... Of corse I was talking to rangers and they told me that he is been monitored and right know they can't tranquilize him because of the rut and still pretty hot weather....
Thank you for your comments!

I have to admit that your photo made me cringe a lot. A few years back we put up a "portable" electric fence with virtually identical wire to keep our cattle out of one particular area. It worked well for the cattle, but we learned the hard way that elk have only forward gears when panicked. Unlike cattle that jump back from a hot wire, the elk charged straight ahead and spread wire pieces and little poles all over tarnation.

We never saw any elk with wire on them, but spent the best part of a day on an Easter egg hunt to collect all that mess. We replaced the wire with a wide white fencing "tape" that has fine brass wire woven into it. It actually is easier to use than the wire, and the elk apparently can see it well enough to jump over or back off without getting zapped. If the park service was electrifying that wire, I wonder if anyone has redirected them to the tape fencing. It wouldn't be as "aesthetic" certainly, but electrified or not it would also serve to keep people out.

Yes, a quandry and good documentary statement. It appears as though he lost a battle with a fence (missing antler)...or maybe he won. Anyway, hope everything works out for this guy.