Victim's Family Doesn't Want Moose Killed

Alaska man fatally attacked while attempting to photograph newborn calves
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted May 21, 2024 2:00 AM CDT
Updated May 22, 2024 1:30 AM CDT
Moose Kills Alaska Man
Homer, Alaska, and the Homer Spit, jutting out into Kachemak Bay, is seen on June 9, 2021.   (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
UPDATE May 22, 2024 1:30 AM CDT

Dale Chorman was a nature photographer who knew the risks when he went out in search of a moose with newborn twin calves in an attempt to photograph them, says the family of the Alaska 70-year-old who ended up fatally attacked by the cow moose as he and a friend approached. "This was not a hapless fool stumbling into danger—this was a person who went out looking for a great photo, knowing the risks, and got caught in a dangerous moment," says Chorman's son on social media. As such, the family does not believe the mother moose, who was "just protecting her offspring," should be euthanized, the AP reports. "The truth is," Chorman's son writes of his dad, "he died doing what he loved." The state Department of Fish and Game has not yet determined a course of action.

May 21, 2024 2:00 AM CDT

An Alaska man's attempt to take pictures of two newborn moose calves turned fatal Sunday morning, when the calves' mother attacked the 70-year-old, killing him. Dale Chorman of Homer was with a second unidentified man when they came upon the animals in the brush, a spokesperson for the state's Department of Public Safety says. Chorman was attacked as the two were running away, the AP reports. The cow moose charged the men and kicked Chorman, according to an official statement. He died on the scene, the Anchorage Daily News reports. The moose left the area, and the investigation is ongoing.

About 737,000 humans and 200,000 moose live in Alaska, and the animals can be aggressive if provoked—especially moms with babies. A 71-year-old man was stomped to death in 1995 after students reportedly harassed a moose and its calf for hours on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus; the man then tried to walk past the animals to enter a building. "Calving season for moose is the time when you definitely want to give them extra space," the public safety spokesperson says. "Cow moose with calves are going to be some of the more aggressive moose you're going to come in contact with." (More Alaska stories.)

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