A bull moose is running around parking lots and industrial areas surrounding Juneau’s Mendenhall River.
While moose sightings are frequent in Anchorage, that’s not the case in Juneau. Photos and videos have been swirling on social media.
“I saw one video that was near Safeway running around and it’s just not something people see every day,” said Carl Koch, Juneau’s area management biologist at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
He said the department’s phones have been ringing for days with reports of the same moose. Unless the moose is posing a threat to people or appears trapped or injured, Koch said people don’t need to call it in.
Koch said some parts of the flood wall lining the Mendenhall River could be an obstacle to the moose, but he said the department has received reports that it’s crossed over.
Moose can travel long distances in September and October to find a mate, Koch said, and that’s usually when Juneau residents see them.
“What’s going on right now is going to be because of the rut,” Koch said.
He said the public should give the moose space and run if it charges.
“Don’t stand your ground with a moose,” Koch said. “If he’s coming at you, use your legs, run away, get somewhere, put something between you and the moose.”
Juneau’s moose population is small and concentrated in the Berners Bay area at the north end of the road, where Fish and Game transplanted nearly two dozen from Southcentral in 1958 and 1960. Koch said biologists counted just 33 moose in a survey of the area this January, which he said is the lowest count in a decade.
That population is a subspecies called Alaska moose, known for being massive. But a smaller subspecies called Anderson’s moose range in other parts of Southeast, including the Taku River, Chilkat Range and Gustavus areas. According to Fish and Game reports, Anderson’s moose spread into the region from British Columbia through transboundary watersheds between the 1880s and 1960s.
Moose do well in wide river valleys with lots of willow to forage. Koch said the Juneau population is probably limited by the relatively low amount of that habitat.
