Update: On Friday morning, Kroschel said he had not located the missing moose.
A yearling bull moose named Duck Moses escaped from the Kroschel Wildlife Center near Mosquito Lake on Monday, just days before moose hunting season is expected to begin.
According a press release from the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, the animal doesn’t have any collar or other markings that distinguishes it from other moose in the area. The moose may be more approachable or even approach people, since it was reared in captivity, the department says.
But, the department cautions the public that it remains a wild animal and could be dangerous.
The moose hunt opens on Sept. 15 for spike fork bulls, bulls with 50-inch antler spreads or at least three brow tines. The department said the escaped moose is legal if it meets the antler requirements. Kroschel said the moose was a spike fork yearling, and therefore believed it was legal. Area biologist Carl Koch said the Department of Fish &Game gave Steve Kroschel, the owner of the center, until the end of the day Thursday to retrieve the moose.
“We cut off his time for retrieving the moose for safety reasons,” Koch said.
Kroschel said in a Facebook message that he was out looking for the moose, named Duck Moses, on Thursday. He said the moose was “likely simply enjoying some willows and full and just sitting out there right now chewing its cud.”
The moose was given a deworming medication called Fenbendazole in late June, but it is believed to be safe to eat now.
The Kroschel Wildlife Center is permitted with the Department of Fish & Game to raise rescued animals, including wolverines, bears, and wolves.
Kroschel wrote in a Facebook message to CVN that wasn’t available for a call, but said he would have more information by Friday.
On his public personal Facebook page yesterday, Kroschel posted a link to a story about the escaped moose in KINY, writing “BREAKING: What is real story here ? Why did this occur? I could see this coming last March. Read this article carefully and ponder how a moose can go from being kissed to being eaten in less than a week.”
Koch said he couldn’t share information about the center’s permits at the moment. He said the permitting biologist was in the field. Koch said generally, places permitted to keep wild game animals are inspected once a year to review that they were meeting requirements for food and enclosures.
He said the escape could affect future permits.
“It’s a concern that it escaped definitely,” he said. “There are requirements (permit holders) need to meet, and when these kind of things happen, it gets documented.” As of Thursday evening, Koroschel still hadn’t found the moose.
Earlier this month, Kroschel posted on Facebook that the center “will most likely close its doors permanently due to the incrementally restrictive force in play that bleed out the joy and freedom of method of presentation that I’ve always done my entire life.”
In 2021, a wild bear killed two moose at the center. Steve Kroschel, who runs the center, shot the bear under the state’s defense of life and property law.
This is a developing story and will be updated.