POCATELLO — A moose running loose in Pocatello caused a stir on Tuesday morning.
Multiple local residents reported a yearling cow moose running in the Old Town Pocatello area at approximately 11 a.m. Tuesday.
When the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the Pocatello Police Department arrived on scene, the moose was wandering around Memorial Park at the intersection of North Grant Avenue and West Fremont Street.
Fish and Game officers attempted to dart the moose with a tranquilizer twice but missed. The moose then ran for a short distance down West Fremont Street before it was successfully darted. The animal came to rest in a residential backyard on North Grant Avenue.
After the animal was tranquilized, Fish and Game officers moved the animal into a truck and relocated it in a remote area away from cities and people.
Nobody was injured during the incident.
This is not the first time that residents in Pocatello have been visited by a wayward moose.
Last August, a moose that wandered into Pocatello's east side was tranquilized near the intersection of Alameda Road and Monte Vista Drive. That moose was then relocated to a remote location.
Months earlier on Easter, multiple local residents spotted a young bull moose near Pocatello High School. After finding a shady area near Centennial and Rainey parks along the Portneuf River, the animal eventually made its way back into the wild on its own.
Tuesday’s incident in Pocatello was also not the first time over the past month that conservation officers had to tranquilize and relocate a wild animal. On May 11, a mountain lion on Red Hill Trail in Pocatello was darted and moved out of the area.
According to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, there were multiple mountain lion sightings around the Pocatello/Chubbuck area after the May 11 incident, but these reports have not been verified due to either a lack of evidence or possible misidentification.
