Orphaned elk raised by Oregon cows accepted by local elk herd

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — An orphaned elk calf that turned up at a Pacific City ranch in March, was recently accepted by a herd of elk after spending nearly nine months living with a herd of angus beef cows.

A local ranching family, which asked to remain anonymous, told KOIN 6 News that the elk they named “Oddball” seems to have reunited with his own species during the holiday season.

“Oddball wasn’t here for the morning feeding on Dec. 13 and there was no sign of him,” a rancher who helped care for Oddball said. “Hunting season ended two weeks earlier, so he survived that. I looked around on two consecutive days and eventually found where a herd of elk moved through. I figured that he finally met his own kind and joined up with them. [Wednesday] I spotted the herd and saw Oddball with them.”

Oddball broke one of his antlers earlier this month, making him easily identifiable, the rancher said. Although the family is sad to see him, they’re happy that Oddball was accepted into a passing herd.

“We got used to seeing him every day, so it created a little void when he left,” the rancher said. “We are ultimately happy he finally joined his own type and got himself home. He’s now with a bunch of cow elk and animals he can talk to. … He’s gone and back to being a wild animal.”

The family previously shared a number of funny videos of Oddball on the ranch. Click the video at the top of this story to see the young elk playing in the sprinklers and sparring with the bulls