2 moose removed from Calgary suburb after kicking dog in backyard

Two young moose have been removed from the northwest Calgary community of Arbour Lake, according to Alberta Fish and Wildlife, after one of the moose “kicked” a resident’s dog on Monday night.

“The resident had let their dogs into the backyard, where two moose calves — a male and a female, each about 1.5 years old — were unknowingly present,” a Fish and Wildlife spokesperson said in a statement. “One dog was kicked by a calf and sustained minor injuries.”

The moose were removed Tuesday with help from the Calgary Fire Department.

They were “successfully released” near the Harold Creek wildlife corridor northwest of Cochrane.

In January, a similar incident involving a mother-and-calf pair was reported. Those two moose were removed from the northwest Calgary community of Scenic Acres and relocated to the Harold Creek wildlife corridor as well.

Fish and Wildlife said that relocation happened after the mother moose bluff charged a dogwalker that walked between her and the calf.

Moose are relatively common in parts of Calgary

Sara Jordan-McLachlan, a wildlife biologist who studies human-wildlife conflict in Calgary, says moose are frequently seen in natural areas like Fish Creek Provincial Park and Weaselhead Flats, as well as in some northwest and southwest suburbs.

“If you’re in these forested areas or near wetlands, you’re more likely to see them than just out in the middle of the city,” she said.

Calgary has resident moose that live and breed within city limits, as well as moose that wander in and out of the city through wildlife corridors in the Tsuut’ina Nation and elsewhere surrounding the city, Jordan-McLachlan said.

According to iNaturalist, a citizen science website where people can track sightings and observations of wildlife worldwide, there have been more than 300 reported observations of moose in Calgary and the immediate area since 2020.

The Miistakis Institute’s Calgary Connect wildlife monitoring program’s remote cameras detected 242 moose in the city from 2017 to 2022, representing a small fraction of the 31,040 total detections of deer species.

“You might not see them, but they might just move off the trail and then they might come back right after you’ve left rather than completely leave the area,” Jordan-McLachlan said.

According to the program’s latest report, moose “have the most overlap with human activity” of any wildlife species in Calgary, which according to Jordan-McLachlan means moose don’t go out of their way to avoid areas frequented by people to the same extent other animals do.

Jordan-McLachlan recommends avoiding interactions with moose of any age or sex. That means not approaching moose and keeping dogs on leash.

In the event of an encounter, she “would advise leaving the area, giving that animal as much space as possible, regardless of time of year.”

The Miistakis Institute’s wildlife monitoring program found that moose activity in the city peaks from 6-9 p.m. and is lowest from midnight to 4 a.m.