Moose charges visitor in Grand Teton Park
16-year old boy from South Korea injured after getting too close
June 12, 2006
A 16-year old boy from South Korea was injured by a female moose in Grand Teton National Park on Tuesday, June 6, after he got too close while trying to photograph her with her newborn calves. The moose charged the youth after he came within ten feet of her taking photographs. He began running away after she charged him, but she quickly reached him and kicked him in the head.
The boy was a visitor to the park. The incident occurred in the vicinity of the Colter Bay Visitor Center. A park ambulance transported the injured youth to St. John’s Medical Center in Jackson.
Earlier the same day, the moose charged a woman and her two children hiking the Lakeshore Trail. Due to those incidents, park ranchers temporarily closed a portion of the paved section of the Lakeshore Trail on Tuesday. The trail was reopened on Wednesday after park officials saw no sight of the moose.
Visitors are cautioned that park animals are wild and should never be approached. This time of year, many female animals are with their young, making them extremely protective and sensitive to any encroachment on their space. Visitors should exercise extreme caution when attempting to photograph an animal, and always maintain a distance of at least 100 yards (about the length of a football field) from bears, and about 30 yards (about the length of two buses) from other large animals, such as elk, bison and moose. Avoid coming between an adult and its young.
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