Desperate moose tries escaping icy Washington river as its baby watches ‘tense’ rescue
A moose fell through ice on a snowy Washington river and became trapped for hours as its calf watched helplessly nearby, wildlife officials said.
A couple who first spotted the trapped moose when they woke up reported it around 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 20, Staci Lehman, a spokesperson for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, told McClatchy News in an email.
Wildlife officers responded to the call and found the female moose stuck in the Little Spokane River in Elk, Lehman said.
The moose’s calf stayed near its mother.
Rescues like this are RARE, according to @WDFW. Sadly, animals do fall in frozen water + don’t make it. This was a team effort w/safety at the forefront. Firefighters made sure the ice was secure so officers could attempt the rescue. You’ll only see this story on @kxly4news! pic.twitter.com/rB9Oj7i7rv
— Esther Bower (@estherbower_tv) December 21, 2022
It was a “tense” rescue to watch, Paula Pershall-Gilbert told KXLY. She had first seen the moose with her husband.
After more than five hours, rescuers lassoed the animal, broke a channel of ice in the river and pulled it to the shore, Lehman said.
The moose was reunited with its calf, she said. The two haven’t been seen since the rescue, “which is a good sign.”
Ice rescues can be a ‘recipe for disaster’
Ice rescues like the one wildlife officials did to free the moose are dangerous, Lehman said.
“Wild animals, cold temperatures and water can be a recipe for disaster,” she said.
Hypothermia can set in within minutes when temperatures are cold if a rescuer gets wet. Or if someone tries to save the animal and they fall in the water, they might also need saving, too, she said.
And sometimes, rescuers are not able to save an animal if the risk is “too great to human life.”
Animals don’t understand when humans are trying to help them, and may injure a rescuer or pull them under the water, Lehman said.
“We also ask that members of the public do not attempt to do so, as there are so many elements of a rescue that can go wrong,” she said.
Elk is about 30 miles northeast of Spokane.
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