Oh deer

Wildlife park sorry for April Fool's elk prank after visitors flock to see it

- LOUISE WALSH

A WILDLIFE park has apologised for an April Fools post after people began visiting especially to see an extinct Irish elk, cloned from ancient bones.

Donegal-based Wild Ireland made the apology five days after it posted what was supposed to be a joke.

It said: “We understand that many of you were excited about the prospect of seeing this magnificent animal in our park, but unfortunately, it was just a prank.

“The Irish elk is extinct, and while we have seen great advancements in DNA technology, we are still far from seeing them back in the Irish landscape.

“We do have four other fantastic species of deer at Wild Ireland.