UPDATE: Authorities take down four moose in Idaho Falls
Published at | Updated at
UPDATE:
Idaho Fish and Game captured two additional moose at Community Park between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.
Fish and Game officials say people are getting too close to the moose and are endangering their families.
Authorities strongly advise everyone to stay away from the large wild animals.
ORIGINAL STORY:
IDAHO FALLS — Local law enforcement and Idaho Fish and Game brought down two moose with tranquilizer guns Sunday morning in the Stonebrook subdivision near Sunnyside Road.
Officers had pursued the animals for more than an hour before they could corner and knock them out in a residential backyard. Two other moose were being observed in a field as of 11:30 a.m.
“We can’t get close enough to them, because the dart guns have a range of 30 yards and in a field they just run away,” Fish and Game spokesman Gregg Losinski said.
EastIdahoNews.com received reports Sunday of moose near the Smith’s on Woodruff Ave, Holmes Ave, John Adams Parkway and in the WinCo parking lot. It’s unclear if it is the same animals at each of the locations.
Residents have reported multiple sightings of moose this week. On Tuesday, law enforcement and Fish and Game officers tranquilized a moose in McCowin Park in Ammon and relocated it.
The two moose captured today will be relocated into a forest far away from humans, Losinski said.
On Saturday, EastIdahoNews.com received more than a dozen photos from locals of moose inside residential areas.
Losinski said there is nothing specific bringing the moose in town.
“It’s just one of those winters they are coming down,” he said. “Its not a food issue, conditions are just such this year that they are wandering in.”
Fish and Game advises that if you see a moose — stay away and call authorities.
“Moose look harmless, but they are very powerful and can jump high fences and kick humans who try to confine them,” Losinski said.
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