A young moose that wandered into the skate park in Nederland this morning, was tranquilized and then removed died from the stress of the situation, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said.

“He was very stressed out by the time we arrived,” said Parks and Wildlife spokesman Randy Hampton. “This was a last ditch effort, and unfortunately he didn’t make it.”

Nederland Police Chief Jake Adler said officers received a call around 11 a.m. from staff at the Nederland Teen Center that a juvenile bull moose was in the bowl of the skate park.

“From what we could tell, he was trying to cross to get down to the reservoir,” Adler said, referring to Barker Reservoir. “He apparently got startled by some folks who were fishing — and startled them pretty good, too — and ran back toward the teen center.”

The moose appeared a little skittish and “not too pleased,” but he eventually sat down in the bottom of the bowl, Alder said.

“We wanted to keep him as calm as possible,” Adler said. “We wanted to keep him from breaking a leg.”

Read more and see another photo of the moose.