Elk in Colorado has tyre removed from neck after TWO years!

Finding yourself in a bit of a pickle is never fun and one animal had to live with the consequences for half of its life!

An elk which had a car tyre stuck around its neck for two years has finally be freed!

Officers at Colorado Parks and Wildlife in the US were able to remove the tyre on Saturday evening after the animal was spotted by a local.

Wildlife officers Dawson Swanson and Scott Murdoch responded quickly, tranquilising the animal before cutting off its antlers to remove the tyre.

"I am just grateful to be able to work in a community that values our state's wildlife resource," Dawson said. "I was able to quickly respond to a report from a local resident regarding a recent sighting of this bull elk in their neighbourhood. I was able to locate the bull in question along with a herd of about 40 other elk."

Before the park officers were able to step in, the four-and-a-half-year-old bull elk, which weighs over 270kg (600lbs), had been roaming the hills of Colorado with the obstruction around it's neck for a long time and removing it proved to be quite the task.

In fact, it was the fourth attempt officers had made within a week to free the elk!

"It was tight removing it," said wildlife officer Scott, "we would have preferred to cut the tire and leave the antlers for his rutting activity, but... we had to just get the tire off in any way possible."

After successfully removing the tyre, the officers were surprised to find the elk's neck was in pretty good condition despite its two year long ordeal.

"I was actually quite shocked to see how good it looked." Dawson said.

The elk is also thought to now be about 35 pounds (16kg) lighter after the removal of the tyre, his antlers and all the material that was found inside the tyre.

"The tyre was full of wet pine needles and dirt," Murdoch said. "So the pine needles, dirt and other debris basically filled the entire bottom half of the tire. There was probably 10 pounds of debris in the tyre."

Although the elk's antlers had to be cut off to aid the rescue, they're likely to grow back fairly quickly. Elk antlers can grow at an incredible rate of up to an inch per day, meaning this elk is likely to have its antlers back in no time.