Elk causes highway closure on A13 in Brandenburg

An elk caused dangerous driving conditions and a temporary full closure of the A13 motorway in Brandenburg, Germany, on Sunday. The animal was first spotted between the Groß Köris and Teupitz junctions around 3:50 PM, heading toward Dresden.

After appearing again on the roadway around 7:02 PM, nearly causing a vehicle collision, police intervened to drive the animal off the road. The motorway was briefly closed to traffic to facilitate this operation. The elk eventually broke through a wildlife protection fence and fled into the Schweriner Forst.

While elk encounters remain rare in Germany, experts note an increasing number of sightings in the region. In Brandenburg, 229 sightings were recorded through the end of 2025, with experts attributing growing populations to movements from Poland.