PAGOSA SPRINGS, Colo., Jan. 1 (UPI) -- An entire herd of elk -- 19 animals total -- was found dead this week in Colorado; they drowned after falling through the ice and into the frigid water of a local reservoir near Pagosa Springs.
The incident likely occurred sometime late Sunday, but local residents didn't report the tragedy until Monday. Local wildlife officials spent most of the day hauling all 19 carcasses to shore. They have since been taken to a nearby landfill.
"It's kind of surprising none of them got out," Joe Lewandowski, a Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman, told the Cortez Journal. "That's what happens when you get several thousand pounds on the ice."
Elk can weigh upwards of 1,000 pounds. The sum weight of the herd simply proved too much for ice that's only had a couple weeks of winter to thicken.
A local Pagosa Springs resident captured a picture of the elk, frozen and dead, after they were retrieved from the reservoir. After being posted to Instagram, it was published on pagosasprings.com, where it garnered several hundred thousand hits in only a few hours.
