In the Elk Island national park, a meeting with a moose turned out to be a serious injury for a 78-year-old resident of the capital.
Agasan Agayev, being at the Babaevsky pond on the track, noticed an adult moose. Desiring to better see the forest giant, he showed recklessness, approaching him very close. The beast did not like this, and he hit the pensioner's hoof directly in the head, and when the man fell, running away, stepped on his chest.
The victim was taken to hospital in serious condition. Doctors noted fractures of the bones of the cranial vault, clavicle and ribs. Until now, his condition remains serious.
According to the workers of the park, over the past 12 years not a single case of an attack by moose on people has been recorded.
But, the hunters of the Elk Island warn, the elk is the most dangerous animal for humans in central Russia, especially in February and March. At this time, the mother, preparing for a new calving, drives away the grown-up “children”, who develop stress in this regard. They have not yet learned how to earn their own food, and the forest is divided between elk clans. Moose could piss off another circumstance - deep snow prevented him from moving from tree to tree (moose feed on woody vegetation). Most likely, against the background of these problems, a man overflowed the patience of a hungry, driven animal.
Special signs will soon appear in the park that will warn people that it is dangerous to approach moose at a distance of less than 25 meters.
