It appears as if a moose that was struck by a vehicle in Banff over the weekend has found its way back into the wild safely with very little required from Parks Canada staff.
Banff National Park resource management officer Mike Grande said the moose was struck on Saturday evening (July 19) on Mountain Avenue at about 10 p.m.
Parks staff and RCMP responded to the 911 call and through a joint patrol of the area didn’t find any sign of the animal. Grande said they did not search the wooded area as it was late at night.
“It ended up holding over to the next morning and a bus operator with a better vantage spotted the moose bedded down on the south side of Mountain Avenue,” he said, adding it was near the sharp corner in the road past Middle Springs. “Our staff arrived and found the moose. Moose are quite wary animals and the fact it was still there and close to the road was a good indication it had an injury.”
An assessment of its injuries found that its right rear leg had a break just above the hoof. Grande said it was limping, but could move well.
“Our goal at that point is to give it the best opportunity to heal from that injury and not be in a location to cause other traffic issues or, given bears are in the area, a wildlife conflict situation,” he said, adding it was hazed toward the Banff Springs Hotel to a slope in a wildlife corridor. “At that point it was not as easy for it to move and we gave it a break.”
By Monday morning (July 21) the moose was gone and had cleared the area. Grande said with no reports of a moose or a limping moose from the public in the last 36 hours he is hopeful it “made its way back into the cycle and will be able to recover from its injuries.”
Moose are not a common sight in the Banff townsite as it does not provide great habitat for the animals, Grande said. Other areas like the Upper Spray, Kootenay, Vermilion Lakes and Castle Junction provide better habitat for the animals.
He also said moose and other ungulates are renowned for their resiliency from these types of injuries. It may not fully recover, he added, but will heal over and it could survive for some time.
The public is asked to report wildlife sightings to Banff National Park dispatch at 403-762-1470.
