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(KSL News) -- Seeing a moose or elk in the wild is an experience that can take your breath away. But that same thrilling experience for the human may translate to a terrifying moment for the wild animal.
While it may not matter so much in the summer, wildlife officials say those encounters this winter could thin the herds.
Most of the time, officers with the Division of Wildlife Resources are more than happy to show you the best places to find wild animals.
Phil Douglass, Division of Wildlife Resources: "It's one of the nice things about Utah. Most of the time it's a really good thing."
Most of the time, but not now.
Douglass says winter months are hard on many wild animals because it's difficult for them to find food. They slow down and settle in at lower elevations, where people are more likely to come across them. Those encounters, however innocent, could scare the animals to death.
Phil Douglass: "Deer, elk, and pronghorns--they'll all gather up to take advantage of each other's body heat. By doing that, they make themselves susceptible."
Susceptible to run-ins with cross-country skiers, unleashed dogs and recreationists.
Running away from any of those sources could mean death because that may have been the very last energy it needed to get it through to another day.
To avoid this, wildlife officers are asking the public to stay off rangeland properties saved for those animals and to leash dogs when in wilderness areas.
Douglass says instead of trying to find wildlife on your own, try out one their centers like Hardware Ranch.
At Hardware, officers feed the elk. So you're just about guaranteed a wildlife experience and you can take a sleigh ride through a herd of hundreds of wild elk without the worry of hurting them.
