Men Face Charges in Canada After Viral Moose Riding Video
The video first surfaced online one year ago.
— -- Two men from Canada face wildlife harassment charges one year after a video surfaced online showing of a man jumping from a boat onto the back of a wild moose.
The video, which has more than 2 million views on YouTube, appears to be shot by someone on the boat. It shows the boat trailing the moose before a boat passenger jumps onto the wild animal and rides him until finally falling off.
The Conservation Officer Service (COS) in North Vancouver, British Columbia, announced the charges on Facebook June 30. The two men, who were not named, are each charged with harassing wildlife with the use of a boat, attempting to capture wildlife and hunting big game that is swimming.
The COS said the incident occurred in Tuchodi Lakes, near Fort Nelson, British Columbia. The agency said the two suspects are from Fort St. John, more than 200 miles away.
The two men are scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 8.
Ron Magill, communications director of the Miami-Dade Zoological Park and Gardens, said today on "Good Morning America" that the man in the video was not just putting himself in danger, but possibly other humans too.
"What you're doing is teaching an animal to lose its natural fear of human beings and actually turning it around, where the animal, the next time it sees a human, might not run away but become aggressive because of a previous experience like this," Magill said.
Calling the suspect's behavior "absolutely abusive," Magill said humans need to respect animals in the wild.
"People look at these animals in parks as if they're props or something," he said. "They think they're something to play with. They don't understand they're wild animals."
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