The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) moose mortality research team is having another tough start this year…actually it’s the moose that are suffering again.
Of 32 moose collared in February 2015, five were euthanized by the DNR due to complications arising from capture. Three of the five were cows… two were pregnant, one with twins, one with a single fetus.
The recent capture of adult moose has now been suspended because of what the DNR is calling “capture myopathy” resulting from their capture/collaring procedures. Thirty-two of the 36 adult moose scheduled to be collared this year had been captured before activities were suspended. Six of the moose were to be collared for a separate study run by biologist Ron Moen of the Natural Resources Institute in Duluth.
Following this recent problem, a spokesman from Gov. Mark Dayton’s office has said that the governor will likely not approve more funding for calf captures after this year.
According to Michelle Carstensen, the DNR’s wildlife health program supervisor, the moose-collaring program may have sufficient funding left over for additional adult captures next year. Data from two years (2013- 2014) of the mortality study has been recorded, but Carstensen would like to see another full year, possibly two, compiled before results are published.
Will calf capture and collaring this spring continue with more disheartening results? With every loss of a single moose, the life long reproduction potential of that animal, and that of its future offspring, reduces the hope of population recovery in northeastern Minnesota.
To date, the only surprising information this study has revealed points to how not to conduct a moose mortality study.
Bob LaMettry
Grand Marais
Leave a Reply