Moose Spotted For First Time Ever in Mount Rainier National Park

This news story about the first ever moose sighting in Mount Rainier National Park is based on a December 8, 2022, Mount Rainier National Park Facebook post. You can see the original post on the park’s Facebook page.

First Ever Moose Sighting in Mount Rainier National Park

In the afternoon of December 8, 2022, an extremely exciting message was posted on the official Mount Rainier National Park Facebook page.

The message contained a photo that clearly shows a moose walking in the snow on Sunrise Road. The park confirmed that this is the very first recorded moose sighting in Mount Rainier National Park and southwestern Washington State ever.

Moose are a priority species under the ‘Priority Habitat and Species Program’ of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and Mount Rainier park management said they “are really excited about this sighting!”

“Priority species require protective measures for their survival due to their population status, sensitivity to habitat alteration, and/or recreational, commercial, or tribal importance,” the park’s Facebook post said.

While moose have never been seen in Mount Rainier National Park until now, these fascinating large mammals do live in other parts of Washington State.

“As of 2015, there were approximately 5,000 moose estimated to live in Washington State,” the park said in its Facebook post.

Most of them call the Selkirk Mountains home, a rugged mountain range in the far northeastern corner of the state, bordering Idaho and Canada. Additionally, there are also smaller populations of moose in the Blue Mountains, the Okanogan Range and the North Cascades.

All of these areas are hundreds of miles from Mount Rainier National Park, which makes this recent Mount Rainier moose sighting so exceptional.

If you see wildlife in Mount Rainier National Park, you can report your sightings here.

See more national parks that are home to moose here!

Moose Safety

The largest member of the deer family, moose may appear calm, aloof and even a bit clumsy at times, but they can be very dangerous.

Especially during the spring calving and fall mating seasons, people visiting moose country should be extra careful. Cows will protect their calves at all costs, while bull moose are fired up by hormones during the rut.

You can learn more about what to do when encountering a moose in this blog post.

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