Rogers City’s mascot has been killed.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources last week euthanized a young bull elk that has hung around Rogers City each of the last two autumns. Rogers City residents took a liking to the animal, photographing him and posting his photos to social media and calling him Roger.

A Michigan Department of Natural Resources official told News staff writer Steve Schulwitz that Roger had become too accustomed to his urban surroundings. He didn’t fear people and people didn’t fear him, and that meant something bad could’ve happened, especially as the animal entered the rut, becoming more aggressive as mating season approached. There had been reports of bluff charges by Roger, and some people had told the Rogers City Police Department that Rogers followed them closely as they walked along the beach.

The residents of Rogers City are understandably upset.

“Is a wild elk living in the city a good idea? Probably not,” Rogers City Mayor Scott McLennan told Schulwitz. “But we all felt special that Roger chose Rogers City, and it was special. It is sad.”

We can’t fault the DNR.

Chad Stewart, DNR deer, elk, and moose management specialist, told Schulwitz that, though Rogers City residents angrily said the DNR should have considered other options, the DNR had none.

If they moved the animal into the wild, Roger would’ve just wandered into another residential area and caused problems there, and he could have spread diseases to other animals there. They couldn’t drop him at a local elk preserve, because those animals are domesticated and Roger wouldn’t get along with them.

“The elk and people were unable to exist on that landscape, and we understand 100% what it meant to the people and how iconic he was,” Stewart told Schulwitz. “But we have to consider public safety. That animal has two large weapons on the top of its head and it would not take much to severely injure or, worse, take a human life. We have to protect against that scenario. We would rather talk about this than having to take questions from a reporter who found out we knew about a habituated animal and asked why we didn’t do anything about it.”

No, we can’t fault the DNR.

But we are deeply saddened to see Roger go, and we join Rogers City residents in their mourning.

Rogers City and indeed all of Northeast Michigan lost an icon last week.

Farewell, good Roger. We hope you rest well.