The adventures of Emil the moose keep a corner of Austria on its toes

VIENNA — For weeks, sightings of a rare immigrant have been keeping a corner of Austria on its toes.

A moose that has come to be known as Emil appeared nearly three weeks ago in Lower Austria, a province in the country's northeast that surrounds Vienna, and it doesn't seem to be in any hurry to leave. Sightings of the animal have drawn curious onlookers, and by Monday a Facebook fan page for him had 10,000 members.

It's been an eventful few days for Emil. The moose showed up late last week in a suburb of the provincial capital, St. Pölten. On Saturday evening, he found his way onto the tracks at its main railway station — prompting a several-hour closure of the Vienna-Salzburg main line, which passes through the city.

Moose aren't native to Austria. Emil is believed to have come from Poland via the Czech Republic, Austria's northern neighbor.

The local animal protection organization says people should avoid feeding him or approaching him for photos and videos. It urged people to leave the animal in peace and not to make a special trip to see him — moose, it said in a social media post, “don't need closeness to humans.”

Emil's whereabouts weren't clear on Monday — he was believed to have wandered northward out of St. Pölten. Police reported no new deployments related to the moose, the Austria Press Agency reported.