GRAY (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- The Maine Wildlife Park in Gray is home to a variety of animals; from bobcats to eagles, these are creatures who can't be released back into the wild for whatever reason.
When an animal is injured or abandoned, the goal is to rehabilitate it, then release it back into the wild, but when a moose comes into the park biologists know it's a permanent guest, in part, because they're such docile animals that they grow accustomed to human interaction too easily.
Since she is here to stay, the park's newest arrival, Maggie, is a moose park visitors will be able to grow with in the coming years.
Maggie is already kind of a celebrity. She was found in a backyard northern Maine, playing with a family's dog. Maggie was alone and only a few weeks old and the family thought maybe she had been abandoned. Just to be sure, they called their local authorities, a move Wildlife Park superintendent Curt Johnson says everyone this time of year can learn from.
"If you care, leave them there," says Johnson, who admits wildlife tend to have complicated relationships with their parents. If you see an animal you think might be abandoned, don't interact with it, just call your local authorities. You can find a list of help nearest you by clicking here.
"Here's an opportunity, whether people get to see moose in the wild or not, to come here and be literally up close and personal with very limited barriers," said Kantar. "So you hope people come here and see the moose and have this appreciation of the awesomeness of a moose and the beauty of a moose and hope that they want to protect wildlife and wildlife habitat in general. That theme of wildlife conservation is important no matter what animal they get to see here."
To learn more about events happening at the park, click here.