Woman Who Petted Moose In Breckenridge Cited For Harassing Wildlife
BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. (CBS4)- A woman caught on camera crossing a street to walk up and pet a moose in downtown Breckenridge has been ticketed by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife for harassing wildlife. The woman's name was not released, but CPW said this is the same moose that has been spotted wandering through the downtown area on several occasions in recent days.
Video shared on social media lead wildlife managers to get help from the public to identify the woman who was petting the moose.
Moose are no stranger to the mountain community, neither are incidents where people get close to the wild animals for photos and to actually pet them. That's something wildlife managers tell CBS4 isn't only dangerous for the people but could end in the animal being euthanized.
So far, there are no plans to relocate the cow moose, because it has not shown any aggression to people. However, there are major concerns with people getting so close and not giving the animal space, that some wildlife officials believe could end in tragedy.
Sunday, visitors to the area said they had spotted moose but told our CBS4 Mountain Newsroom they "Wouldn't ever try to pet" even though past actions have proven otherwise.
CPW officers in the area and Breckenridge police are trying to keep tabs on the moose when they do enter the very busy downtown area and police have been dispatched in past days to work crowd control around the animals.