ANCHORAGE, Alaska — State biologists are reminding people not to touch moose calves or try to take them home as pets following a string of incidents involving people handling the animals, including one household that had a calf in the living room “as if it was a puppy.”

Moose are being born in Alaska this time of year, and biologists say people should leave the calves alone – even if they seem to have been abandoned by their mothers.

Most of the time, the mothers eventually return to their young.

In one recent case in Willow, a calf was put in a backyard dog run with a collar around its neck.

Another calf was taken into a home in the Wasilla area. “They just had it in the living room, as if it was a puppy,” state biologist Todd Rinaldi said.

Last week, someone tackled a calf at an Anchorage mobile home park and tied it up with an electrical cord, the Anchorage Daily News reported.