A man was stomped to death at the University of Alaska by a moose that was being harassed by students as it roamed the campus with its calf.

The animals were outside the gym when 71-year-old Myong Chin Ra arrived on Monday to use the sauna.

“He tried to just kind of slip by them,” said campus police Officer Jim Milne, “but that didn’t work.”

The moose charged, and Ra ran toward a clump of trees. He fell on a slippery walkway, said Shane Harvey, a student.

“She’d get on her front legs and kick with her back legs,” Harvey said. “He probably got stomped about a dozen times.”

People had harassed the moose and its calf for hours, and the animals were agitated when Ra arrived, witnesses said.

“There were people standing around throwing snowballs, yelling, whistling, shouting, trying to get their attention,” said Ann Gross, a director at the university’s day-care center, “There were lots of people with cameras.”

Police stayed with the moose and its calf until it left campus several hours later.

The university is in a heavily wooded area favored by moose, but attacks are rare.