Escaped rodeo cow evades capture in and around Anchorage

A jogger spotted Betsy on the Tour of Anchorage Trail on Dec. 26. (Photo by Meg Kurtagh)

Anchorage, Alaska, is no stranger to wandering ruminants; after all, moose wander throughout town frequently. But an escaped rodeo cow is another matter altogether.

A wily 3-year-old cow has been roaming free in Anchorage and in the wilderness beyond for more than six months, and nobody has been able to catch her since, despite concerted efforts, Madeline McGee reports for the Anchorage Daily News.

Anchorage police have been searching for the elusive cow using drones with infrared cameras; Sgt. Mark Huelskoetter, who leads the Technical Support Unit for the department's SWAT team, figured it was good practice.

"It’s a good training opportunity for our guys, since we’re going to be training anyway, to maybe get something good out of this — find this dude’s cow," Huelskoetter told McGee.