A wandering elk that captured hearts across Central Europe has been safely captured in Austria and released near the Czech border.
The young male, nicknamed Emil, was tranquilised on Monday after straying dangerously close to a motorway near Sattledt, Upper Austria. Wildlife officials fitted him with a GPS tag before releasing him on the edge of the Šumava forest in South Bohemia, where a small herd of 10–20 elk lives.
It is not clear whether Czech authorities were involved in the operation, but conservationists hope Emil will settle with the Šumava elk instead of continuing his travels.
Since first being spotted near Ludgerovice in the northeast Czech Republic on 2 June—after likely entering from Poland—Emil has roamed through four countries: Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria. His journey of nearly 500 km has taken him through around 60 towns and villages, across rivers, railways and even the Danube.
Along the way, Emil became an online celebrity. Social media groups dedicated to him now count almost 50,000 members, with hundreds of photos and videos charting his adventures—including appearances near two cultural festivals, one a heavy metal event in South Moravia.
Elk once roamed freely in Czech forests but were hunted to extinction in the Middle Ages. Reintroduction efforts failed until the 1970s, and today only around 50 remain in the Czech Republic—compared with the tens of thousands still found in Poland.