Conservation officials in British Columbia are investigating a video that shows a man jumping on a moose and briefly riding the animal as it tried to cross a body of water.
In the video posted to YouTube on Saturday, a shirtless man is seen standing on the prow of a boat as it follows a moose wading in the water.
With the motorboat directly behind the moose, the man jumps on its back and rides the animal for a few seconds before falling off. Several people can be heard laughing from the boat.
The video, posted by B.C.-based group Wolftracker TV, has been viewed more than 80,000 times. The video caption says the incident was reported to the conservation authorities.
David Vince, a conservation sergeant in Fort St. John, said the B.C. Conservation Officer Service has received numerous calls about the minute-long clip. Based on the information received so far, “it doesn’t look like this video was taken this year,” Vince told CTVNews.ca on Monday.
Another conservation officer has been assigned to the case and is trying to determine where exactly the video was taken and track down the man who jumped on the moose, Vince said.
He said it appears the video was taken on a river.
“Wildlife harassment is an offence,” Vince said, adding that fines for convictions are determined by a judge.
A similar incident involving two boaters in Ontario led to a hefty fine in the fall of 2013.
Two men were fined a total of $2,500 for harassing a cow moose swimming in a northern Ontario lake. Video provided by witnesses showed the men circling the moose in a boat before one of them jumped on the animal.
