The 2-1/2-year-old boy trampled by a female moose yesterday at Shadow Mountain Reservoir in Grand County is “doing well” and has been released from Children’s Hospital, his family said in a statement today.
“We’re happy to be back home,” the unidentified family from Grand County said. “We believe this was a freak accident as the female moose was likely spooked by something else in the nearby vicinity, and was fleeing that presumed threat when she encountered our sons.”
The toddler and his 6-year-old brother were playing when the moose charged from the forest about noon Thursday.
“We think it was just a freak incident,” said Capt. Nowell Curran, a spokeswoman for Grand County Emergency Services. “We don’t think the moose attacked the child.”
After the noontime incident, game officers looked for the moose for more than four hours in an effort to kill the animal, following state Division of Wildlife guidelines on aggressive animals.
The moose, however, escaped.
