Watch Olivia the elk have a snack in her owner's kitchen
The Local Sweden - [email protected]
Published: 8 Feb, 2018 CET.
Updated: Thu 8 Feb 2018 12:48 CET
A pet elk who comes into her owner’s kitchen has won the hearts of Sweden, with a video of her munching tulips getting over 3.6m hits on social media.
Olivia is a full-grown elk, weighing 350kg, but when she was only five days old, elk park owner Leif Lind had to take her into his house and bottle-feed her, as her mother was not producing enough milk.
"I slept on a mattress with her on a mat next to me," he told Sweden's TT newswire. "She became like a family member."
As a young calf, the family's playroom was given over to Olivia, for four months, and she still wanders into the house for a treat of freshly cut tulips.
"She thinks it's fun," Lind said, when asked about Olivia's visits. "But the little lady also gets worried and feels a bit uncomfortable because she might knock something over. But she's like a ballet dancer. She goes around very carefully. She comes and says hello for 15 minutes and then she goes back out to the others."
Olivia sometimes tucks into a chunk of bread, or some apples.
"But most of all, she likes flowers," said Lind. "If there are any fresh tulips on the table, she'll want to have them."
Lind, who runs the Gårdsjö elk park in Uppland, is quite happy with the attention the video has got since he posted it up on Facebook, bringing TV cameras and newspaper reporters to his door in droves.
When Olivia was young she was a little bit more manageable as a pet.
Photo: Leif Lind/TT
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Olivia is a full-grown elk, weighing 350kg, but when she was only five days old, elk park owner Leif Lind had to take her into his house and bottle-feed her, as her mother was not producing enough milk.
"I slept on a mattress with her on a mat next to me," he told Sweden's TT newswire. "She became like a family member."
As a young calf, the family's playroom was given over to Olivia, for four months, and she still wanders into the house for a treat of freshly cut tulips.
"She thinks it's fun," Lind said, when asked about Olivia's visits. "But the little lady also gets worried and feels a bit uncomfortable because she might knock something over. But she's like a ballet dancer. She goes around very carefully. She comes and says hello for 15 minutes and then she goes back out to the others."
Olivia sometimes tucks into a chunk of bread, or some apples.
"But most of all, she likes flowers," said Lind. "If there are any fresh tulips on the table, she'll want to have them."
Lind, who runs the Gårdsjö elk park in Uppland, is quite happy with the attention the video has got since he posted it up on Facebook, bringing TV cameras and newspaper reporters to his door in droves.
When Olivia was young she was a little bit more manageable as a pet.
Photo: Leif Lind/TT
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