Two bull elk are turning heads in the Great Smoky Mountains. They’re also blazing quite a trail after leaving the North Carolina side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) and showing up near Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
“This was the first time we’ve had elk on the park headquarters lawn,” Dana Soehn, GSMNP spokesperson, told WBIR-TV. “They were enjoying the freshly cut grass on Wednesday, and now they have split up.”
Biologists expect the bulls to rejoin the herd in North Carolina this fall.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation assisted with the successful reintroduction of elk onto their native GSMNP range in 2001. RMEF also assisted with the successful reintroduction of elk into Tennessee in 2000.
(Video source: WBIR-TV)