Sudbury police help capture moose wandering near downtown area

A number of Sudburians and the local police department got up close and personal with one of Canada's iconic animals on Friday as a moose was spotted wandering near the northeastern Ontario city's downtown area.

In a series of tweets, the Greater Sudbury Police Service said the animal was "causing a bit of a traffic hazard" in the area near Regent Street, Elm Street and Beatty Street, just west of the downtown core.

Police were notified around 9:45 a.m., said spokesperson Kaitlyn Dunn.

Officers initially tried to contain the moose in a fenced lot in the area owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway, Dunn continued but the animal escaped. Police were able to secure it near a Brady Street business.

While police were dealing with the situation, they advised drivers to watch their speed around the moose and not to chase, honk at or otherwise harass it, as all the commotion had the animal frightened.

Dunn said the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry tranquilized the moose and took it to an unknown location around 12:20 p.m.

It's not the first time police have had to deal with a moose on the loose in the Sudbury area: in 2016, officers were called to Hanmer where they eventually contained it in a local schoolyard.