Last week, an unexpected visitor wandered out of the foothills of Chugach State Park and into Anchorage, Alaska — and while moose sightings in town aren’t unusual this time of year, this one stopped people in their tracks.
Dangling from the bull moose’s antlers was something large, black and unmistakably out of place. Thick straps swung as he walked, and residents quickly realized the animal was dragging around a mysterious object.
Calls poured into the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, though at first no one could quite identify what the moose had snagged.
“Once we started getting photos, it became clear,” Cory Stantorf, an Anchorage-area biologist with the Division of Wildlife Conservation, told The Dodo. “It was a full internal-frame backpack tangled in his antlers.”
Though the pack appeared to be empty, its size made it dangerous. Internal-frame backpacks are bulky, with long straps — and for a moose navigating icy streets, traffic and wooded areas, that posed a serious risk.
“Any time something interferes with an animal’s ability to see, walk or feed, we try to step in,” Stantorf said. “In an urban environment, they need every advantage they can get.”
The backpack blocked part of the moose’s vision and repeatedly snagged his legs as he walked.
“His foot was getting caught in the straps,” Stantorf explained. “If he spooked or tried to run, that could have ended very badly.”
While bull moose typically shed their antlers in early December — which might have solved the problem naturally — the backpack was too large and hazardous to leave alone.
“As that moose was walking, he was getting his foot stuck in between straps,” Stantorf said. “Which doesn't bode well if you're trying to run away from a vehicle or you get spooked and you go taking off or try to run through the woods … I also don't want him to step and fall and break a leg.”
Wildlife officials attempted to track the moose using a thermal drone, but he initially stayed deep in the woods, making intervention unsafe. Over the following days, sightings continued as the irritated moose shook his head, clearly unhappy with his unwanted accessory.
Eventually, the moose wandered into a residential neighborhood to feed. That’s when Stantorf and his team seized the opportunity. Moving carefully, they sedated the moose while he ate, keeping the situation calm and controlled.
Once the moose was asleep, the team monitored his vital signs while others carefully untangled and removed the backpack. They also fitted him with an ear tag to help track his movements in the future.
Afterward, the moose was revived and given space to recover. Soon, he stood up, shook himself off and walked away — free of his burden.
“I actually saw him again later that evening,” Stantorf said. “He was a couple blocks away, standing by the road, calmly feeding.”
This time, there were no straps swinging from his antlers — just a moose, back to being exactly where he belonged.
