Famous Swedish elk is pregnant

A famous Swedish elk who made news when she tromped around backyards in Blekinge in the south of Sweden, eating people's apples, and making return visits throughout 2009 and 2010, is pregnant, reports Blekinge Läns Tidning (BLT).

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Originally called Fabbe the elk, she was renamed to Fabiola two weeks after moving to her new home at Räntemåla Gård when personnel discovered she was a female.

Karl-Göran Eriksson, who works at Räntemåla Gård, a moose park in Blekinge, told BLT that Fabiola will likely give birth at the end of May.

The elk starting showing up in Rödeby backyards in November of 2009, and slowly became a country-wide sensation. At the time, there was talk of putting her to sleep or of a possible relocation. Authorities believe Fabiola's mother was hit and killed by a car in 2009.

In August, 2010, BLT reports, police received a complaint that an elk was in a woman's backyard eating apples from her tree. There were numerous other sightings of the animal who seemed to be very comfortable around people.

Later there was an ongoing discussion and a drawn out process between the Blekinge County Council, who wanted to relocate the elk to Räntemåla Gård, and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket), who did not want to get involved.

The elk's well-being started to become a concern. A Facebook page to save the elk had over 4,000 followers, and an agreement was finally reached in early 2011. She was captured and transferred to her new home in February.

BLT reports that Fabiola quickly readjusted to the new living situation together with the other eleven elk who live on the farm.

You can meet Fabiola for the first time on May 8 when Räntemåla Gård opens its doors for the spring.