On Tuesday night, Coloradans, Americans and parts of the world were captivated by a little mama elk atop Lookout Mountain just west of Golden. Several of Denver's broadcast stations found the animal near our weather cameras there.
No humans were nearby; and, since she appeared to be relaxing in the shade we figured people might want to watch her. We started a live stream of her on our Facebook page.
Then people noticed the hoof and realized this was a cow elk birthing a calf. The live stream ended up reaching well over a million people all over the world - and the subsequent looks into her birthing efforts garnered about as much attention.
The world wanted to see this cute baby born - and so did everyone at 9NEWS and the state agency Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
Lauren Truitt, spokesperson for CPW, came onto 9NEWS Thursday afternoon to talk conservation efforts and the beloved cow elk.
On Wednesday afternoon when she still had not given birth, wildlife officers with CPW met two wildlife veterinarians from Fort Collins at our camera site on Lookout Mountain.
Their goal was to assess the elk's condition and intervene if need be. Truitt and CPW staff have repeatedly said their main goal was to save the mama elk's life, though if there was anything to do for the birthing calf, of course, they would.
By Wednesday evening, she had moved into steeper terrain and officers didn't feel comfortable intervening. Their plan was to tranquilize the elk and help it through the birthing process.
Wildlife officers returned Thursday morning and have been working to find and help her since. She was located in a wooded area and the decision to intervene has not yet been made.
9NEWS stopped the ever-growing-in-popularity live stream at the request of CPW. They wanted privacy to help the animal.
When we took the stream down, we received hundreds upon hundreds of requests for updates. Residents of Canada, Germany, the UK, Australia - people all over the world and many in our backyard all wanted updates.
For Truitt, however, and the folks at CPW, the elk began as a headache. But she explained to our Kyle Clark Thursday afternoon, they are happy the stream was able to bring attention to Colorado's incredible wildlife.
The first question she answered was the one on everyone's mind: is the baby elk going to make it? She didn't think so.
"At this point, we don't believe [the calf] is still alive," she told 9NEWS. "At this point, we're focused more on the cow's survival."
Truitt said while it's unlikely, it's still possible the calf is alive and they're pulling for the best.
She went on to praise 9NEWS and the emphasis we put on the fact that this elk is a wild animal; it's not a pet, it's not in a zoo. Sometimes nature is cruel, which was a common refrain Truitt repeated several times in her conversation with us.
"People have been extremely respectful," she said. "And I credit that with the media coverage, asking people to be respectful... Nobody was in the field until we got there - that's to the public's credit."
While Clark continued to give her ample opportunity to spurn the media coverage of the cow elk through the interview, Truitt always pointed back to the opportunities this afforded her agency.
"As Colorado's wildlife agency, although you cringe initially... we saw people in Russia and South Africa - people around the world watching this..." she said. "It gives us a good opportunity to talk to the public about our wildlife."
Watch Kyle Clark's full interview with CPW's Lauren Truitt (story continues below):
Clark then asked about what a lot of people have wondered: if 9NEWS and the other local stations hadn't started streaming this, would CPW have reacted the way they did? If a hiker had called about the calf, would their wildlife staff come out?
Truitt said she didn't know if it would be any different if it was a hiker who'd reached out or the thousands who watched our live stream. She said the many eyes watching the situation only meant there would be no "correct" choice for the department.
No matter what they did, Truitt explained, someone would be unhappy.
Moving forward, CPW will continue to search for the cow elk and try to help her.
"What we would like to do is help her birth that calf," she said. "We don't know that it's still alive, but it could be. We can say that if she doesn't get this calf out, her likelihood of survival is very low."
For all those wondering what they should do if they run into this situation - either on 9NEWS live stream or while enjoying Colorado's incredible outdoors - just give CPW a call. And stay back.
We cannot reiterate enough that despite the docile appearance of the cow elk on our live stream, she is still a wild animal. The best thing for her and all the other animals roaming our beautiful state is for you to stay well away from them.
We did not expect this cow elk to become as popular as she did.
If you're feeling nostalgic and want to watch our beloved elk, here's one of the several live streams we did:
A cow elk in labor on Lookout Mountain near Golden, ColoradoSome of you were watching last night. We're still waiting for the Cow Elk to give birth on Lookout Mountain
