A young female moose was safely tranquilized and removed after going on a walking tour of a Worcester neighborhood on Tuesday morning.

The wayward animal was first reported near the pond in Institute Park around 7 a.m., said Worcester police.

Responders from the Worcester police and fire departments assisted the Massachusetts Environmental Police in tracking down the animal, police said.

The search lasted several hours, but the moose was eventually tranquilized around 11:30 a.m., near the Salisbury Estates apartment complex on Park Avenue.

The moose, a yearling who weighed between 400 and 500 pounds, was loaded into the back of a truck and taken to Western Massachusetts, said the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.

Encounters between moose and humans are not uncommon, said David Stainbrook, a moose biologist at MassWildLife.

“There are a handful of encounters a year, usually about this time when the younger males get forced out by the older ones,’’ said Stainbrook.

He explained that young moose can wander over large areas and end up near populated areas. “We try to get them pointed back in the right direction,’’ he added.

While the moose population in Massachusetts is lower than states such as Maine, they are “very common,’’ in northern Worcester County and the Berkshires, said Stainbrook.

Fully grown moose can reach about 1,500 pounds but are generally not aggressive toward humans, said Stainbrook.

“A cow might be aggressive if she has a calf and a bull could be during mating season, but for the most part, they’re quite elusive animals,’’ he said.

Drivers generally have more to fear from moose than pedestrians, Stainbrook added. “They’re really big and a lot harder to see than a deer. If you hit a deer, most of the time you hit it with the bumper. With a moose, there’s more of a risk that it’s going into your windshield,’’ he said.

Andrew Grant can be reached at andrew.grant@globe.com