Moose That Was Becoming a Regular at a Colorado Parking Garage Is Moved to the Wild

Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Colorado Parks and Wildlife

The animal appeared to just like lounging in the garage, but at 750 pounds, wildlife experts were worried.

A moose who was becoming a regular at a Colorado parking garage is being relocated to the wilderness for safety reasons. The animal had been going to a Vail parking garage “pretty regularly” and was found licking the parking garage walls on a few occasions, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

"He was pretty regularly coming into the parking structure first thing in the morning and then would kind of clear out before it got too busy," Devin Duval, an officer with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said in a statement. "This is the primary parking place for the folks accessing Lionshead Village as well as the Vail Health hospital.”

Experts believe the 750-pound animal, who is between two and three years old, liked the taste of the de-icing agents used on the structure’s upper floors. His presence, however, wasn’t exactly fitting for the area, so he was tranquilized and safely removed on Tuesday morning.

The relocation “went smoothly” and now the parking lot-loving moose will be placed in a remote area more than 110 miles away.

"We were definitely within that human health and safety realm where there could potentially be an injury to a human or the animal," Duval said. "That is the reason we decided to move it."

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