VICTORIA, British Columbia, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- A cow moose that attacked a skier accompanied by her dog in the British Columbia back country was probably only defending its calf, a conservation officer said.
Conservation officer Tobe Sprado said the Sunday incident near Kamloops should serve as a cautionary tale that dogs and wildlife often don't mix, Postmedia News reported Wednesday.
Matt Bruce, a trails attendant at the Stake Lake cross-country ski area, said the unnamed woman was cross-country skiing about two-thirds of a mile south of the main ski area.
The cow moose, with her calf nearby, saw the woman's dog and rushed both skier and dog, Sprado said. The woman fell to the ground and the moose stomped around her with the woman fending off the animal with her ski poles.
"The dog went towards the moose, she called it back and the moose went to her. It had her on the ground, and she was hitting it with her poles. It was pretty scary," he said.
She was not injured, Postmedia said.
Sprado said the dog's presence may have brought out the mother moose's protective instinct. To the moose, a dog looks a lot like its natural predators such as wolves, he said.
