On Saturday morning, UNBC biology and forestry lab instructor Dr. Roy Rea received a message that two moose calves were spotted alone in the woods. Their mother had been hit by a car a couple days prior, leaving the newborns to fend for themselves.
With the help of Phil Myatovic, a local resident, Rea found the orphaned calves after searching the woods in Prince George, B.C. for a couple of hours. Initially, the pair thought that only calf had survived, but thankfully, they were both still alive.
“Phil and I approached them cautiously, but they didn’t move, you could tell they were having a tough time. Phil and I each grabbed one and put them in a kennel I had brought and I took them to the Ospika Animal Hospital,” Rea told 250 News.
After receiving IV fluids at the hospital, the newborn brother and sister immediately began to perk up, and were quickly sent to the Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter, an organization that specializes in rehabilitating abandoned animals.
“It looks good. They’ve got diarrhea right now which is pretty typical for calves that have been without their mothers for a couple of days because they’re brand new, they’re probably just four of five days old. They’re on artificial moose formula and they’re giving them stool hardener but the calves are doing well and it’s looking good.”
While the prognosis is good, the wildlife shelter states that newborn moose are very fragile and susceptible to infection and this pair are not “out of the woods” just yet.
