Wild moose chase at Banjo Bowl ended well: police

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This article was published 10/09/2017 (2953 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As a moose hoofed it around Investors Group Field Saturday while thousands of fans headed to the popular Banjo Bowl, police officers and conservation officers grappled with the task of nabbing the 300-kilogram beast.

Recounting the event Sunday, Winnipeg Police spokesman Const. Rob Carver highlighted the problems officers faced while trying to capture the moose on the loose — and that included some fans who were irate at being held back from getting to the stadium for the start of the game between the Blue Bombers and the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“The game was delayed a short period of time, but if we hadn’t been able to resolve it at the time, it might have been way longer,” Carver said.

“The moose was estimated to weigh in 200 to 300 kilogram. Safety was a factor because of the proximity to Investors Group Field,” Carver told a news conference that was called to discuss the strange event and respond to blowback from fans. The Banjo Bowl is an annual game played in Winnipeg involving the rival teams. It’s a week after the Labour Day Classic, which is played in Regina.

Carver acknowledged some Bombers fans were upset when officers blocked off Chancellor Matheson Road, which leads to the stadium, before the game.

About 33,000 fans attended the match, although Carver couldn’t say how many were delayed when the road was closed.

“We did have some fans who — potentially, they didn’t understand what was going on — who were not overly supportive of what the officers were doing,” he said.

He said police officers made fans’ safety a priority.

“It caused a small delay… We couldn’t let people near the animal; this was an over 700-pound wild animal. We don’t take these decisions lightly, to move people especially in light of one of the city’s most massive sporting events of the season,” Carver said.

“We apologize for any inconvenience, but we had no other option when it came to public safety, and this situation resolved itself without any injury to the public.”

The moose was tranquillized at 1:55 p.m., five minutes before the 2 p.m. kickoff. The game was delayed only minutes but it took fans an extra 30 minutes or more to get to the stadium and into their seats.

It took three tranquilizer shots to sedate the huge animal and police needed to make sure people weren’t in the way of the line of fire.

Officers were prepared to kill the moose if conservation officers couldn’t sedate it. The moose was not injured and was later let loose north of the city.

“If we hadn’t been able to resolve it… (the game) might have been delayed longer. This resolved itself without any injury to the public and the animal was safely tranquillized and removed. I think that’s the outcome everyone wants. It’s just a little frustrating when we hear people weren’t supportive of that,” Carver said.

Despite the wild rampage before the game, police said the fans inside the stadium were tame during the match.

Officers involved in crowd control watch for one or two tussles to break out among fans, but that didn’t happen Saturday, Carver said.

It turned out to be one of the least rowdy games in the history of the Banjo Bowl.