8-year-old girl on bicycle in Colorado chased and attacked by moose

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is continuing its investigation into an incident in which an elk allegedly attacked an 8-year-old girl while she was riding her bike in Estes Park Thursday afternoon.

The incident was reported around 1 p.m. Family members reported that the girl was riding her bike in a residential area when a female moose charged at her from about 55 yards away. Eventually, the female moose caught up with the girl and began trampling on her, hitting her multiple times.

The young girl was taken to hospital and released later that day.

When a game warden investigated the report later that day, he spotted a female elk and a young calf in the area, with the elk showing signs of aggression toward the officer. The officer used a non-lethal beanbag bullet to stun the aggressive animal, and this tranquilized the elk.

The next day, officials took the calf to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife health lab for treatment, presumably to prevent future aggressive behavior from the same female elk.

“This is an unusual and unfortunate situation where a young girl was playing outside far away from the calf and a female elk became aggressive to protect her newborn,” said Jason Duetsch, Area Wildlife Manager with CPW. “Although it is a natural response for elk to be very defensive during calving season, it is not often that they injure someone, especially a child. We are glad that the girl is recovering from her injuries and wish her continued speedy recovery.”

Signs have been posted in the area warning of the potentially aggressive moose and further measures are planned to intimidate the animals. Officials urged the public to keep dogs on a leash as dogs can trigger aggression.

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