Moose guided out of Whitehorse after being trapped by fence

Two young bull moose that were found trapped inside fenced compounds in Whitehorse Sunday had to be guided out by wildlife officials.

The moose were first in the Yukon government's Department of Highways compound, then one jumped a fence and became stuck in the liquor warehouse compound on Quartz Road.

"It was really surprising how they managed to get in there," said conservation officer Tynan Thurmer.

"It's the middle of Whitehorse, the downtown industrial area, and the fences are pretty high so either they managed to find a low spot and jump over or they managed to wander in through the gate on Friday and no one really noticed them.

"There's lots of cover in there with all the large equipment and stuff so it's easy to keep them out of sight."

The conservation officers were helped by Yukon Parks officers, City of Whitehorse staff, Yukon bylaw services officers, and Whitehorse RCMP. They used their vehicles to corral the animals along Quartz Road toward Walmart, where the moose then went into the Yukon River and swam away downstream.

"It was stressful trying to get everyone organized," said Thurmer.

"You want to press the moose toward the gate but at the same time you don't want to stress them so badly that they panic and run into a fence causing more injury than they already have obtained through climbing over the fence to get in.

"We tried to do it gently and it took a while but in the end it worked out really well."

The operation took about two hours.