A video of a wild moose being chased along a remote road in Greenwood, B.C., has prompted an investigation by the Conservation Officer Service.
A B.C. outdoor enthusiast and member of the hunting community, who wants to be known only as Steve, says the video was uploaded in October, 2014, but came to the community’s attention after it was posted on a Facebook page.
The original video has now been taken down, but Steve uploaded a copy on his Wolftracker TV channel.
The video appears to show ATV riders chasing a moose at a high rate of speed along a remote road. The clip is about two minutes long, but the original description states the riders had been following this moose for about 10 minutes before filming started. It said the moose kept speeding up and slowing down.
Conservation Officer Dave Webster said the video came to his attention on Tuesday.
“I think the video clearly shows an animal severely stressed and is being pushed by that vehicle following it.”
Webster said if they wanted to simply pass the moose, they should have slowed down, turned off the ATV and pulled over. This would have allowed the moose to walk off the road by itself.
“When they get highly stressed like that, they go into panic mode and we see what we saw in the video,” he added. “They just keep running down the road and continue to get stressed.”
He said it is also not clear if the moose is a breeding cow, in which case such running could put her offspring at risk.
Officers said they have some suspect information and will be following up with their investigation. Harassing wildlife is a ticketable offence under the Wildlife Act and the people on the ATV could be facing a fine of $345 or more if the case is taken to court.
Steve said he thinks the video is “absolutely disgusting, illegal, and unethical.”
“The resident hunting community does not condone this behaviour and we want it known that this is not a hunter doing this, but a law-breaker.”
Webster said he wants the public to enjoy B.C.’s wildlife, but residents need to know how to respect it.
“We want to really reiterate to the public that in cases like this, British Columbia is a pretty special place with the abundance and variety of wildlife that we have,” Webster said. “When we have an opportunity to observe them in the wild, we encourage it–not to the point that we’re putting that wildlife at risk or stressing them out to the point that could cause them harm. We just ask that the public remain vigilant in being respectful of wildlife in our natural environment.”
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