Posted on 09/25/2001 2:09:12 AM PDT by 2Trievers
No Bull -- Hunter Shoots Hermaphrodite Moose
WHITEHORSE, Yukon (Reuters) - A hunter in the northern wilds of Canada's Yukon Territory got the surprise of his life last week when the supposed bull moose he shot turned out to be not a male, nor a female, but both.
``The hunter shot it, thinking it was a bull. When he got closer, he saw that things weren't as they should have been, or as he expected,'' Rick Ward, a moose biologist for the Yukon government, said on Friday.
``It was a hermaphroditic moose. It was a female with antlers,'' said Ward, who added he had never seen anything like it in his 25 years as a biologist -- of which 15 years have been spent studying moose.
``It's very, very rare,'' he said. ``It's about the same as finding hermaphrodites in humans -- very, very low (odds).''
The vast Yukon territory, located next to Alaska, is home to about 30,000 people, an equal number of bears and twice as many moose.
Hunting of male moose is permitted for three months in the autumn of every year, and those who shoot one can live on the meat of a single animal for a winter.
But hunters who shoot cows face steep fines.
Ward said the hunter, who called wildlife authorities after discovering the quirk of nature, was not fined.
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