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CFL game nearly delayed by moose

CFL game nearly delayed by moose
Posted at 6:46 PM, Sep 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-09 18:46:06-04

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) -- A moose nearly delayed the Canadian Football League game between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Winnipeg Police Const. Rob Carver said the calf was tranquilized Saturday outside Investors Group Field shortly before the game started. Officers blocked routes to the stadium to keep fans from getting in the way as conservation staff attempted to corner and subdue the animal.

Joe Johannesson, the conservation officer supervisor for the Winnipeg district, estimated the male moose was between two and three years old. The province says the moose is on its way to a remote location outside the city.

"It wasn't a full adult, but it was still a very large animal," Johannesson said. "We loaded him into a trailer and he is on his way to a nice, safe place."

Johannesson said it's rare for moose to come into the city, but there are natural corridors that make it possible.

"They follow major waterways and he was on the Red River, so he could have come from any direction," Johannesson said.