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Colorado wildlife officials have shared footage of the moment a woman was repeatedly charged at by a huge moose as she screams at it to back off. The video was posted to Facebook by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) on Tuesday, having been recorded over the weekend near Ironton Park, Colorado.
In it, a large cow moose can be seen circling the camera operator, who is standing in a thinly-wooded area. At times the moose appears to begin charging towards her, but backs off each time when she shouts at it.
The video ends with the moose backing off once more, and it's unclear what happened after that.
Moose are huge animals. Colorado's Shiras moose can weigh between 800 and 1,200 pounds and stand six feet at the shoulder. Their antlers can reach five feet wide in larger, older bulls.
They are not normally aggressive, but can become agitated if harassed. Mothers will also attack if they feel their calves are in danger—which is what officials with the CPW think happened in this case.
Moose calves are born in a three-to-four week period between the end of May and middle of June.
"Moose will defend themselves and their young aggressively," CPW wrote in a caption to the video. "The cow moose in this video possibly had calves nearby and charged a woman multiple times this past weekend near Ironton Park, CO. Moose can run up to 35 mph in short distances and frequent locations near water with an abundance of willows (their primary food source).
"If a moose displays aggressive behavior or begins to charge, run as fast as you can and try to put a large object between you such as a boulder, car or tree."
The wildlife agency also issued a press release earlier this month detailing two incidents in which people were injured due to moose attacks in Colorado, both of which involved cows acting defensively because of nearby calves.
One incident involved a woman who was running on a trail in Breckenridge on May 26, and the other involved a woman who encountered a moose in some willows near her home in Grand Lake on May 31. In the latter case, the woman felt the moose stomp on her back and head.
Shannon Schaller, deputy regional manager with Colorado Parks and Wildlife's northeast region, said that people should "give wildlife extra space this time of year."
"Be sure to keep dogs on leashes," she said in a statement. "Dogs can trigger aggressive behavior and both moose and elk will chase a dog right back to their owner, presenting a dangerous situation."
Indeed, a man was injured in a moose attack earlier this year while walking his dog in Idaho.
