Elk spotted walking on shopping mall roof in Elbląg

According to local media, Elbląg fire service received a call on Tuesday morning regarding an elk walking around the top storey of the parking lot at CH Ogrody shopping mall. A veterinarian arrived at the scene and sedated the animal.

The mammal was then transported to a temporary rehabilitation centre for animals, located in the Elbląg County.

The elk is to be released back into the wild.

"We receive calls regarding various incidents, sometimes unusual ones. We rescue cats from trees and tend to traffic accidents involving large animals. But today's situation was the first of its kind," said Mateusz Norek of Elbląg Fire Department.

Eurasian elk (Alces alces) is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family (Cervidae). Male elks are characteristic for their "open-hand shaped" antlers, which they use to defend themselves and to fight for females with rival males.

Elks typically inhabit boreal forests and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests of the Northern Hemisphere in temperate to subarctic climates.

Although generally slow-moving and sedentary, elks can become aggressive, and move quickly if angered or startled.