Thanks to repeated community efforts to alert wildlife officials, a mule deer doe with two fawns is free from a plastic bucket lid that had encircled her neck for weeks.
On Sept. 3, Colorado Parks and Wildlife Southwest Region (@CPW_SW) shared on X, formerly Twitter, that it had finally rescued the doe after hearing the first reports of her distress Aug. 12.
It was only thanks to the Pagosa/Aspen Springs community for keeping an eye out and for the multiple folks who care deeply about our wildlife making reports that we were able to track this deer down.
— CPW SW Region (@CPW_SW) September 3, 2024
Thanks to everyone who made this rescue possible. pic.twitter.com/CYDYPRVmZd
According to the post, the agency's district wildlife managers had been trying to locate and sedate the doe to safely remove the plastic lid from her neck. However, she had evaded officials until Sept. 1, when Chimney Rock DWM Cody Rarick caught up with her.
As Rarick worked, the doe's two fawns were spotted keeping a close eye on their mother. The doe was reunited with her fawns after receiving a reversal drug to get her moving and an ear tag to notify hunters that she had been recently tranquilized. (The CPW, which participates in sustainable herd management, requires hunters who shoot a deer with a tag to report the information.)
Ultimately, the community was rewarded with another heartwarming story of an animal rescued from plastic — an all-too-common death trap for creatures on land and in the oceans.
According to the U.N. Environment Programme, the world is producing more than 440 million tons of plastic waste annually, and sadly, much of that ends up as unregulated litter.
Fortunately, some organizations are working to clean up the toxic waste and repurpose it into useful products, with community volunteer days as one way to participate in protecting the future of our delicate ecosystems.
In this case, as the agency highlighted, the successful rescue wouldn't have occurred without the care of multiple residents who took the time to call in their observations.
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"It was only thanks to the Pagosa/Aspen Springs community for keeping an eye out and for the multiple folks who care deeply about our wildlife making reports that we were able to track this deer down," CPW wrote on X. "Thanks to everyone who made this rescue possible."
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