Family says Alaska photographer killed in moose attack knew risks and died doing what he loved

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The family of an Alaska man fatally attacked by a rabid moose trying to protect his newborn twins said he was a nature photographer who knew the risks of taking photos in the wild and that he died doing what he loved.

Although some have called for the moose to be killed, Dale Chorman’s family does not want the moose put down because they were only protecting their calves.

Chorman, 70, and a friend were trying to find the moose and her calves to photograph them Sunday when the moose emerged from the brush, said Chorman’s friend Tom Kizzia, an author and journalist from Homer, in Alaska.

“They both turned to run, and the friend looked back and saw Dale lying on the ground with the moose standing over him,” Kizzia told The Associated Press by phone.

“There was no obvious trampling and they saw no signs of trauma later when they recovered her body,” he said. “I think the medical examiner is going to try to figure out exactly what happened, whether it was just a single blow to the wrong place or something like that.”

The friend called for help, and by the time medics arrived, Kizzia said the moose had disappeared into the woods.

Chorman’s son, Nate Spence-Chorman, posted on social media that Dale was “a loving husband to Dianne, a wonderful father to me and (as you know) a fantastic friend to many.”

The fatal attack occurred on Chorman’s 3-acre property, just east of Homer, where each spring, elk give birth in a dense forest of alder and elderberry brush.

Chorman was a builder and carpenter by trade, but he also loved being around wildlife. He was a naturalist, avid bird watcher and wildlife guide who loved sharing his photos.

“This wasn’t some unlucky fool who fell into danger, this was a person who went in search of a great photo, knowing the risks, and found themselves caught in a dangerous moment,” wrote his son.

The moose should not be killed, Spence-Chorman wrote. “The mother ungulate does not need to die. She was simply protecting her offspring.

Although the death was tragic, Spence-Chorman said her father would have accepted that outcome.

“The truth is he died doing what he loved,” he wrote.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game normally receives reports of aggressive or unusual behavior from moose, said Cyndi Wardlow, regional supervisor for the Department of Wildlife Conservation.

“In this case, we are obviously very concerned about public safety,” she said.

“If there was an animal that was behaving in a way that continues to present a threat to public safety, then we could potentially put it down, but we are not specifically going down that route,” she said .

Wardlow encouraged everyone, including the many summer tourists who are just beginning to arrive in Alaska, to be aware of wildlife and their environment.

In the case of moose, the largest of the deer family, small adult females can weigh up to 800 pounds (360 kilograms), compared to double that for males. They can also grow up to 1.8 meters tall at the shoulder.

It is estimated that there are up to 200,000 moose in Alaska.

This is the second fatal moose attack in Alaska in the past three decades.

In 1995, a moose trampled a 71-year-old man to death as he tried to enter a building on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus. Witnesses said the students threw snowballs and harassed the moose and her calf for hours, and the animals became agitated when the man tried to walk past them.

Dale Chorman grew up in Painesville, Ohio, but hitchhiked to Alaska in the 1980s, his son said in an email to the AP. He traveled extensively, spending time across the Americas, Europe, Asia and visiting Antarctica.

He met his wife, Dianne, when she came to Alaska to watch bears and he was a guide at a nearby river lodge.

Chorman’s work as a professional guide focused primarily on brown bear photography, but he was passionate about wildlife, especially birds, his son said. He could identify many species of birds by their calls alone and sometimes taught lessons in birding by ear in Homer.

Homer is located on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, approximately 220 miles (355 kilometers) south of Anchorage.