Minnesota Moose Study Curbed After Harm to Animals
Scientists ordered to stop adding new subjects after some animals were abandoned or died
Scientists studying why moose are disappearing in Minnesota's forests will stop putting GPS collars on the iconic beasts after some test subjects died or were abandoned. Photo: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
The mystery of the disappearing moose in Minnesota’s remote northern forests has taken a new twist.
State officials this past week ordered scientists to stop adding new subjects to research into what is killing off the moose after some studied animals were abandoned or died.
About a quarter of young moose collared with GPS devices in the past two years were abandoned by their mothers to a near-certain death if state officials hadn’t intervened and sent several of them to a zoo. And a higher-than-expected number of adult moose handled this year failed to recover from sedation after being fitted with the collars.
Scientists say their methods were safe but there is always risk in this type of research.
“When you are dealing with live animals, you never know what kinds of things are going on with them on a given day,” said Glenn DelGiudice, research scientist with the state Department of Natural Resources, who headed the calf study.
Moose once roamed across northern Minnesota but today live mostly in the northeastern corner.
The population of the ungulates, which average between 950 and 1,000 pounds, has fallen by more than 60% to an estimated 3,450 this year, compared with about 8,840 in 2006, said state officials.
A resurgent wolf population, mild winters that allow ticks and other disease-carrying pests to survive, and other maladies are among the culprits, but scientists say they can’t be sure why the population is falling so quickly.
“We don’t have a smoking gun,” said Michelle Carstensen, wildlife-health-program supervisor with the state Department of Natural Resources, who ran the adult-moose study.
In 2013, the state canceled an annual moose hunt in a bid to help the animals recover.
That year, scientists also launched a pair of studies costing about $1.7 million to get to the bottom of the problem.
They began capturing adult moose and fitting them with sophisticated GPS collars. Some of the animals also have a sensor placed in their stomachs that transmits data, such as body temperature and heart activity, via the collar.
In 2013, four of 111 moose handled by scientists died within two weeks, and three of 36 died after being sedated and collared the following year. This year, scientists stopped adding new animals after five of 32 failed to get up after sedatives wore off and several had to be euthanized.
In the other study, moose calves and their mothers were both fitted with GPS collars. In 2013, nine of 49 calves were abandoned by their mothers, the trackers showed.
In 2014, nine of 25 calves were abandoned, but because of the GPS collars, officials were able to capture most of the abandoned calves and take them to safety. Six are now housed at the Minnesota Zoo. Scientists improved their methods as they went along and were hopeful for better success with this year’s calves.
But amid an online petition to stop the work, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton this week ordered a halt to putting collars on additional moose.
Scientists said they were saddened by the deaths and abandonments but hoped the animals successfully enrolled would yield answers to help get a better picture of what is happening.
“We’re trying to save a population,” said Mr. DelGiudice. “Now, we’re ready to get some really good data.”
Micki Warner, 35-year-old co-owner of the Mocha Moose café in Two Harbors, Minn., said she used to regularly see moose on annual trips to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area near the Canadian border but hasn’t seen any for the past two years. “They are not around like they used to be,” she said.
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