Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has cared for orphaned Alaska moose before, including Atka, who arrived in 2020. The zoo is now preparing for two more rescued calves, unrelated and roughly seven months old, who are expected to arrive in Colorado Springs later this week after spending the summer together.
The zoo says the female calf’s mother was killed either in a vehicle collision or in a human-wildlife conflict, and wildlife authorities brought the calf to the Alaska Zoo for care. The male was separated from his mother and twin, and the three did not reunite. Both calves were taken in by the Alaska Zoo in May, likely when they were only days or weeks old, according to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
The female received around-the-clock care during her first weeks at the Anchorage facility, the zoo says. The Alaska Zoo specializes in caring for animals unlikely to survive in the wild, and moose-human conflicts around Anchorage make rescued calves a typical focus there in summer. FOX21 News Colorado reported that Cheyenne Mountain Zoo staffers Rachel Wright and Heidi Lopex traveled to meet the calves in Alaska.
Preparing a Colorado Springs Habitat for Growing Moose
Back in Colorado Springs, the zoo's Rocky Mountain Wild team is working to babyproof the moose yard ahead of the calves' arrival, according to the zoo. The calves can live together for now, and the team plans to adjust the yard as the moose grow into adulthood. An experienced Alaska Zoo moose keeper is expected to travel with the calves, providing care checks, snacks, and water throughout the flights, per the zoo's statement.
Once they land, the calves will move into Rocky Mountain Wild's moose habitat, and the care team says it will follow the calves' lead as they settle in. The zoo expects the calves to be visible to guests by the weekend, though it cautions that they may not always be out in the open while adjusting, since they will have access to both the barn and the newly baby-proofed yard. Both calves remain unnamed for now, the zoo says.
A Zoo Built Around Rescued Moose
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo describes itself as one of the only Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited institutions in the United States to house moose, a distinction it says grew out of its work with two previous moose, Tahoma and Atka. Tahoma died in 2020, and Atka died in September, the zoo says. That hands-on history, per the zoo, led to the institution formulating nutritious moose diets, testing a prosthetic toe, and training the animals for cooperative blood tests, hoof care, and more.
Atka himself arrived at the zoo in July 2020 as an orphaned eight-week-old calf after being found outside Anchorage at about six days old, KKTV reported at the time, having spent his early weeks in the Alaska Zoo's care before the transfer. Colorado Springs is not the only destination for Alaska's orphaned moose, either: Northwest Trek Wildlife Park in Washington state said three orphaned Alaskan moose calves arrived there in mid-August and were adjusting well in an off-exhibit area, with plans to move them into its Free-Roaming Area together once they're comfortable.
What the rescue numbers show
A historical statewide figure offers some context, but it does not answer how many orphaned calves the Alaska Zoo has cared for or what happened to them afterward. The Anchorage Daily News reported in 2015 that Alaska Fish and Game had taken in about six to 10 calves a year since a 2009 rescue mandate. That was a state intake figure, not a count of Alaska Zoo placements or their disposition.
The need for this kind of rescue work traces back to conditions in Anchorage itself, where an estimated 1,600 moose share space with residents, according to Alaska Public Media. The outlet reported that four separate moose encounters in the city left five people with minor injuries since Memorial Day weekend, prompting wildlife officials to urge residents to give protective mother moose plenty of space during calving season.
