MISSOULA – Downtown residents were alerted Friday morning that a moose and a calf were seen on the 200 block of Pine Street.
The mother moose and her bull calf were tranquilized on Friday after the pair spent the morning bedding down in an alleyway on Pine Street.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and Missoula Police contained the area. Officials believe these are the same moose that visited Greenough Park earlier this week.
FWP Warden Joe Jaquith said tranquilizer darts were used to keep the animals and people in the high-traffic area safe.
“In the Rattlesnake and Greenough Park they’re probably okay with a little posting to let people know they’re there,” Jaquith said. “But downtown Missoula, there probably is just no good outcome for that, so we want to get her out someplace where they’re gonna be safe.”
Eventually, both started to wander away from Greenough Park.
They were then tranquilized, tagged and carried to a nearby trailer. Lifting the animals took almost a dozen people, and FWP says the mother moose could weigh more than 800 pounds.
After safely waking up, the moose went back to FWP offices. They were released near Nine Mile.
The cow and calf moose that had been spotted in Missoula parks and neighborhoods over the past week are now back in a more remote area west of Missoula. The pair had made it downtown this morning, and FWP, along with amazing help from the Missoula City Police Department, were able to rope off a few downtown city blocks and safely dart and tranquilize the cow and calf. FWP then moved the pair to much more moose friendly habitat . Although you can see a barn in the background of this video, the duo are on their way to open, forested land. Thanks to Missoula City Police for their help and to the community for being aware and careful around these wild animals that share our spaces.
Posted by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (Region 2) on Friday, March 8, 2019
Jaquith says when temperatures drops can cause these animals to head down to lower elevations. There is no clear trend indicating if this is happening more than usual.
