Pets & Animals

DULUTH, Minn. (WCCO) ― No animal is more symbolic of Minnesota's wilderness and "up north" experience than the moose. There was a time when it was common to see several of the creatures lumbering along, while driving the Gunflint Trail from Grand Marais to Saganaga Lake.

Today, Minnesota's once populous moose number just around 7,000 and most of them are limited to the far northeastern part of the state. For the past several decades, moose numbers have been in a serious decline.

"The die off in the northwestern state is virtually complete," says renowned moose researcher Rolf Peterson. He's leading the state's Moose Advisory Committee which was charged by the Legislature to look into the moose die off.

Most concerning has been the startling moose mortality recorded in the far northwestern part of the state. That herd was estimated at around 4,000 animals in the early 1980s. Today, aerial surveys place the number of moose there at a mere 100 animals.

After a year of research and study, the advisory panel met in Duluth to hand over its findings to the Department of Natural Resources. While their research could not pinpoint one specific "smoking gun" as cause for the mortality, the panel suggests a combination of factors. Most specifically, brain and liver parasites, disease, tick infestations and poor moose reproduction are to blame.

But according to Peterson there is something even more ominous playing a role in each factor -- climate change. One theory is that each physiological cause is perhaps made worse by warmer, shorter winters and longer, more humid summer weather.

That's largely because moose don't perspire and must increase their respiration rate when stressed by heat. That, in turn, makes them more susceptible to parasites and disease. Also, whitetail deer are expanding their northerly range in the arrowhead. That's a problem because, while immune from the brainworm and liver fluke parasites, they are the primary mode of spreading the parasites.

"Everybody's in unchartered waters and how will the public respond to disappearing wildlife in times of climate change," Peterson said.

Now that the advisory panel has issued its recommendations, it is up to the Department of Natural Resources to develop a moose management plan. The DNR's wildlife section chief, Dennis Simon, said that will begin immediately.

The plan will be put out for public comment before being finalized and sent on to the Commissioner and Legislature. The public comment period will include the chance to voice opinions online.

Included in the panel's recommendations is for continued moose hunting in the northeast so long as key harvest and population indicators are monitored. A continuing decline in the heard could prompt a hunting closure.

Already, the DNR has initiated lower moose harvest quotas. That could be further tightened in the new management plan. There will also be an emphasis placed on improving the forest habitat for moose and further reducing the deer harvest, to better control the spread of disease.

Finally, the panel recommends continued research, including the use of the latest global positioning satellite tracking of moose. The DNR already plans on fitting some moose with the new GPS collars which should lead to better data collection.

According to the DNR's Simon, "if we can determine the micro-climates needed by moose, we can begin a habitat protection strategy that will ultimately help moose survive in Minnesota."

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