Nature & Environment
Massive Moose Die-Off in North America Baffles Scientists
Benita Matilda
First Posted: Oct 16, 2013 08:00 AM EDT
The population of moose is declining across North America. While the exact cause for their dwindling numbers remains unknown, scientists hold climate change as a major factor.
There has been a steep decline in the moose population across North America, in areas like Montana, British Columbia, New Hampshire and Minnesota. This disturbing fact has stumped experts who are unable to solve this mysterious die off, reports New York Times.
In Minnesota until about twenty years ago, there were two geographically separate moose populations and by 1990s one of the population just disappeared and their numbers dropped from 4,000 to 100. The moose population in northeastern Minnesota is falling by almost 25 percent a year and their number has drastically reduced from 8,000 to 3,000. Seeing this drastic fall, officials have issued fewer moose hunting permits in order to save their vanishing population. In 2012, only 362 permits were given, which is half of what was issued in 1995, reports The Times.
Apart from this, states like North Dakota and Wyoming also raised concerns about increase in moose die offs in their states.
"There has definitely been a change. Something has been going on and we've seen it in the hunter success rates, the amount of effort required to fill a tag and in what hunters report seeing while in the field," said Justin Gude, Wildlife Research & Technical Services Bureau Chief with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "But the one thing that is very clear is that there is not enough information -- we don't have substantial evidence of a long term decline, but we need to figure out what is going on."
Moose is the largest extant species in the deer family and basically inhabits the boreal and the mixed deciduous forests. These slow moving and sedentary land mammal are solitary in nature and are not aggressive toward humans. Other than humans their predators consist of bears and wolves.
Scientists are trying to find reason for these mysterious die-offs. One factor for their decline might be the rise in the winter ticks that begin breeding in November and continue till March and April. These parasites stay on hoofed animals like deer, elk and sometimes as many as 150,000 ticks latch onto a single moose. This parasite attacks leaves the animals anemic and with patchy thin coats as the moose rub their backs across rough surfaces to get rid of these pests.
Another culprit the scientists point to is the 'brain worm' that is a common parasite seen in the white tailed deer. Kris Rines, New Hampshire Fish and Game's moose project leader, points out that regions with higher deer densities often fail to support a moose population.
Even wolves are seen contributing to the moose decline in the Rocky Mountains and Upper Midwest region. The Times reported that the decline in British Columbia is due to widespread killing of forests due to a pine beetle epidemic. Also moose need a colder climate to exist and climate change and raising temperatures are contributing to their decline.
"It's complicated because there are so many pieces of this puzzle that could be impacted by climate change," Erika Butler, an ex-wildlife veterinarian at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, told The Times.
Reports according to LiveScience state that, over 800,000 -1.2 million moose exist in North America and every year about 90,000 moose are left at the mercy of the hunters.
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First Posted: Oct 16, 2013 08:00 AM EDT
The population of moose is declining across North America. While the exact cause for their dwindling numbers remains unknown, scientists hold climate change as a major factor.
There has been a steep decline in the moose population across North America, in areas like Montana, British Columbia, New Hampshire and Minnesota. This disturbing fact has stumped experts who are unable to solve this mysterious die off, reports New York Times.
In Minnesota until about twenty years ago, there were two geographically separate moose populations and by 1990s one of the population just disappeared and their numbers dropped from 4,000 to 100. The moose population in northeastern Minnesota is falling by almost 25 percent a year and their number has drastically reduced from 8,000 to 3,000. Seeing this drastic fall, officials have issued fewer moose hunting permits in order to save their vanishing population. In 2012, only 362 permits were given, which is half of what was issued in 1995, reports The Times.
Apart from this, states like North Dakota and Wyoming also raised concerns about increase in moose die offs in their states.
"There has definitely been a change. Something has been going on and we've seen it in the hunter success rates, the amount of effort required to fill a tag and in what hunters report seeing while in the field," said Justin Gude, Wildlife Research & Technical Services Bureau Chief with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "But the one thing that is very clear is that there is not enough information -- we don't have substantial evidence of a long term decline, but we need to figure out what is going on."
Moose is the largest extant species in the deer family and basically inhabits the boreal and the mixed deciduous forests. These slow moving and sedentary land mammal are solitary in nature and are not aggressive toward humans. Other than humans their predators consist of bears and wolves.
Scientists are trying to find reason for these mysterious die-offs. One factor for their decline might be the rise in the winter ticks that begin breeding in November and continue till March and April. These parasites stay on hoofed animals like deer, elk and sometimes as many as 150,000 ticks latch onto a single moose. This parasite attacks leaves the animals anemic and with patchy thin coats as the moose rub their backs across rough surfaces to get rid of these pests.
Another culprit the scientists point to is the 'brain worm' that is a common parasite seen in the white tailed deer. Kris Rines, New Hampshire Fish and Game's moose project leader, points out that regions with higher deer densities often fail to support a moose population.
Even wolves are seen contributing to the moose decline in the Rocky Mountains and Upper Midwest region. The Times reported that the decline in British Columbia is due to widespread killing of forests due to a pine beetle epidemic. Also moose need a colder climate to exist and climate change and raising temperatures are contributing to their decline.
"It's complicated because there are so many pieces of this puzzle that could be impacted by climate change," Erika Butler, an ex-wildlife veterinarian at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, told The Times.
Reports according to LiveScience state that, over 800,000 -1.2 million moose exist in North America and every year about 90,000 moose are left at the mercy of the hunters.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone