Moose on the loose.

Thanks for posting, saw this yesterday.
I wonder what the average moose numbers are since they started doing these surveys?

Saw a similar article in the Quetico Superior Wilderness News - Signs of hope for Minnesota's moose population (queticosuperior.org).
We always saw moose on our trips in the '90's and early 2000's. After 2005 we really noticed a difference in sightings and moose sign. Last year, 2021, we saw more sign and moose than we had for the past 15 years so our personal experience lines up with the report.

It is a good sign. In the early 2000's the entire moose heard in the Northwest collapsed and died off most likely from brain worm. That population peaked at 7,000 Moose I believe now maybe a 100 left? It appears the Northeast herd is stable and making comebacks occasionally. That's a really good sign.

Good news! Thanks for sharing H&D!

Does 45 calves to 100 cows mean that only 45% of cows had calves? If so I would have expected to see a higher percentage.

Maybe the 45% reflects winter and predator mortality.

SinglePortage: "Does 45 calves to 100 cows mean that only 45% of cows had calves? If so I would have expected to see a higher percentage."

Studies indicate about 83% of cows become pregnant each year. So the 45% would be survival rate not the number born.

The DNR tried to determine the actual number born and then why they were dying to understand the demise better but unfortunately a small percentage of calves died during the study and public pressure force Governor Dayton to use executive powers to end the study. Early results were that bear predation was much higher than expected, bears are one of the few species that can smell new born calves. Wolf predation was obviously an issue and then abandonment due to probable brain worm was surmised to be part of the cause but the study did not go long enough to determine anything with certainty.

45% is a better number than has been seen in the last 15 years. Many years ago it had been as high as 80% (early 2000’s). Of course there was a large jump int he population following those higher years and coincided with the all time highs in the North East Moose herd in 2005/2006 through 2009.



T

LindenTree: "Thanks for posting, saw this yesterday.
I wonder what the average moose numbers are since they started doing these surveys?"

I looked it up and found numbers back to 1983. Population was at it’s highest in the late 80’s then there was a warm winter and there was a large die off due to tick infestations. Then again ‘94-96, with T he highest population estimates from 2005-2010. This is just the Northeastern herd.

T, thanks for finding this.

I don't know how to interpret much of this data but there sure are alot of fluctuations in the numbers from certain years. I wonder if it is due to weather and other circumstances when they do the surveys. I'm assuming they are done the same time each year flying the same routes.

There is some great data above. It's hard to determine specific reasons for the overall moose population decline. However, a positive sign is that it is currently stable with perhaps a modest increase in numbers...but not considered statistically significant. It certainly merits further study to see how the population manages with forest fires, disease and predators.