Watch moose wander into movie theater — and stick around for snacks. ‘Ain’t leaving’

A moose wandered into an Alaska movie theater to munch on popcorn and other snacks — and the scene was captured on video.

“Everyone loves the movies, as witnessed by an unexpected guest to our theatre last night,” the Kenai Cinemas posted to Facebook with a photo of the intruder.

The young moose entered through an open door at about 9 p.m. Wednesday, April 19, General Manager Ricky Black told KTUU.

“No, no, no,” a startled employee exclaims as the moose wanders inside, seen in a video posted to TikTok. “What do I do?”

The moose ambles over to a trash can, spilling old popcorn to the ground, the video shows.

“Our popcorn had him enticed,” Black told KTUU. “He was pretty focused on that. I guess he was tired of eating bark for the winter.”

“He ain’t leaving,” a worker says in the video as the moose munches away, although the animal eventually heads back outside with a discarded McDonald’s Happy Meal box still wrapped around its mouth as people shoo it away.

“I do not know if a Happy Meal is good for a moose or not,” Nick Fowler, a wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, told the Anchorage Daily News. “However, I can confidently say that it’s not in its natural diet.”

“That’s hilarious!!!” read one comment on the Facebook post.

“I wonder what movie he came in to watch,” read another comment.

Black told KTUU that, although the encounter was amusing, he’d have reacted much differently if an aggressive adult moose had entered the theater.

Kenai is a city of 7,600 people about 160 miles southwest of Anchorage.

What to know about moose

Moose are protective animals and will defend their territory and their young.

If someone encounters a moose, they should give it space to leave, wildlife officials said. People shouldn’t try to haze a moose to move out of the way.

Wildlife officials said people should do the following if a moose charges:

• Run away quickly

• Put a tree, rock or other large object between them and the moose

• Get up quickly if knocked down

• Report the incident to wildlife officials as soon as possible

This story was originally published April 24, 2023 at 1:33 PM with the headline "Watch moose wander into movie theater — and stick around for snacks. ‘Ain’t leaving’."