Police urge Calgarians not to take selfies with moose

Don’t take selfies with moose.

Such advice should be fairly obvious to anyone who’s watched moose-versus-human videos on YouTube, but Calgary police had to drive the point home Thursday after reports surfaced that one large ungulate was roaming in the area of Beddington Trail and Harvest Hills Boulevard N.W.

That police felt it necessary to issue the warning was the source of much amusement on the CPS Facebook page.

“The fact that you have to discourage people from taking selfies with said moose is hysterical to me. You can’t fix stupid, but thank you for trying,” wrote Lindsay Anne.

“Actually, it’s kind of sad that people have to be told not to take a selfie with a moose. What happened to common sense?” wrote Judy Laing Brown.

While it’s not every day you see a 700-kilogram animal lumbering around a Calgary intersection, it’s not uncommon for the animals to roam into the city.

In March 2016, one was caught trotting near the Canadian Tire in Shawnessy. It was later subdued near the Superstore.

Two months later, Fish and Wildlife officers gave chase while one spent three hours wandering around McKnight Boulevard and northwest Calgary.

Authorities finally tracked and tranquillized the animal in Thorncliffe.

In the summer of 2015, one was photographed sitting between the shrubs and basketball court at Mahogany Square S.E.

It, too, had to be tranquillized and relocated.

Const. Riley Babott of the digital communications team understands why a Facebook post like this would earn a few guffaws but hopes people take it seriously.

In the case of Thursday’s moose, officers who had been tracking the animal called in the request to spread the word to rubbernecking photographers who had stopped to snap off some shots as the ungulate loitered in a green space.

“They were getting close enough where it was causing it a bit of stress,” he said.

The moose is believed to have made it out of the city. Police eventually closed the file.

For the masses of phone photographers out there, Babott had this message: “It might look like a good Instagram photo but they’re putting themselves at significant risk of harm to get it.”

The warning doesn’t begin and end with moose, either. Bears, wolves, cougars and coyotes are regularly spotted in the city.

“We’re kind of a wildlife city, we have them coming and going through the green spaces. Trying to get a picture of them is not worth it. They’re wild animals and they’re going to act like wild animals.”

It is unknown if everyone heeded Thursday’s warning, but we can confirm no moose attack videos had been uploaded in the Calgary area Thursday.