TROY, N.Y., Sept. 22 (UPI) — A year-old bull moose was captured in New York state after it was spotted wandering the streets of a city near Albany in the early morning hours.
Troy police said they received a report about 2 a.m. Monday of a moose walking the streets of the city near the Dinosaur BBQ.
“We were pretty excited about [the moose],” Troy Police Capt. Dan DeWolf told WTEN-TV. “We’re concerned but we’re excited about it, too. I’d never seen a moose in real life.”
The State Department of Environmental Conservation was contacted and the moose was spotted later in the day on Green Island. Authorities said the animal narrowly evaded wandering onto Interstate 787 during the morning rush hour, but it instead swam across the Hudson River back to Troy.
Police and wildlife officials cornered the moose in a resident’s back yard and it was tranquilized about nine hours after the first sighting.
“We were able to have a safe shot with the dart gun. After two shots, it went down. We got a collar on it. we got an ear tag on it,” wildlife biologist Michael Clark said.
He said the moose was loaded into a trailer filled with ice.
“He is really scared and stressed, and you have to keep them cool so they remain in good health,” Clark told the Albany Times-Union. “This had a good ending.”
The moose was transported to the Capital District Wildlife Management area for examination before being released in the Cherry Plain area of the Rensselaer Plateau, where it is believed to have originated.
“Yearling Bulls this time of year are starting to get into the rut of the breeding season and they tend to wander into places where they shouldn’t,” Clark said. “Especially young bulls like this when they’re looking for love in all the wrong places.”
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