Witnessing a live birth is a spectacle in and of itself, but imagine seeing a live moose birth — not at a zoo — but at your local shopping center.
That’s what a handful of Alaskans experienced at a Lowe’s hardware store parking lot in Anchorage Tuesday morning. “My morning was just literally driving up and my daughter saying there was a moose and then I noticed a baby!” one witness told CNN affiliate KTVA.
Shocked and amazed patrons looking to buy hardware instead got to view a live moose birth.
“I’ve been here 50 years, it’s just unbelievable to see it in a parking lot,” another spectator told KTVA.
May and early June is moose calving season in south-central Alaska, said Ken Marsh with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and although the animals are usually found in the wilderness, Anchorage’s proximity to forests and mountains means moose and people sometimes mingle.
So what should you do when you’re unexpectedly in the presence of wildlife — specifically, an animal giving birth? Give the animal plenty of space, Marsh said. Approaching too closely can stress the animal and can result in them charging at you, he explained.
