A moose got into a tricky situation on Easter when it fell through the ice of the Chena River in Fairbanks, Alaska. A group of people came together to help the moose in its time of need.
“I looked out the window here and right over there you could see this moose fighting for his life. He was clearly unable to get out of the hole and was fighting with all his effort,” said Gary Niese, one of the rescuers.
After about two hours, Niese was able to round up some help. What helpful neighbors and Alaska State Troopers did next may have saved the moose’s life.
“Naturally when I heard the call come out on the radio about a moose that needed to be free from the ice, that sounded a lot more exciting than what I was doing at the time so me. And the guys ran out there and used it as an opportunity to help out,” said Trooper Trevor Norris.
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Neighbors, troopers and a wildlife officer teamed up to try helping the moose.
Niese says the moose was completely exhausted and near the the point of giving up. It ended up taking all six of them to pull the moose up.
The rescuers were thankful to have some help behind the scenes from other neighbors who assisted in the process. Niese said that once the moose could stand up, it didn’t want to leave them.
Alaska State Troopers said that although it was tired and cold, the moose was able to stand on its own and thankful for the assistance.
But Norris says while the assistance from neighbors helped, officials generally discourage citizens from getting too close to wildlife.
