Brighten Your Day

Dozens Of Wyoming Residents Rescue A Herd Of Elk That Fell Through Ice

December 31, 2017

Dozens of people jumped into action Friday morning when a herd of elk suddenly fell through the ice at Palisades Reservoir in Wyoming.

Temperatures were near 32 degrees when the animals suddenly fell into the freezing water.

"I was headed into Jackson to go to work and I noticed a couple cars pulled over," Dusty Jones told East Idaho News. "I looked off to the left and saw a couple of guys beating on the ice with a herd of elk right there in front of them."

Jones ran down to the ice and called a friend to bring a chainsaw. There were around a dozen elk in the frigid water, which Jones says measured 8-10 feet deep, and suddenly people started appearing to help.

"Before you knew it, there were 30-40 people there," Jones said. "We began cutting a little path toward the shore so the animals could walk out but they were so cold they couldn't move. That's when we just started grabbing them and pulling them out."

One by one, each of the 13 elk was pulled to safety.

Jones posted a video on Facebook of the last two elk being pulled from the water.

"No elk died, which is awesome," Jones said. "It was such a great thing."