Bye-Bye Bullwinkle?
A bull moose in Superior National Forest, Minnesota, USA [Photo credit: USDA Forest Service, EPA]
I found a troubling story at Earthweek yesterday about the declining moose population in several regions of North America:
One of Minnesota’s two distinct populations of the lumbering animals has dropped from about 4,000 to 100 since the 1990s.
The other population is down to fewer than 3,000 from 8,000 over the same period.
Wildlife experts say manmade climate change appears to be behind most of the declines.
Read the whole story at www.earthweek.com
The first moose I ever saw up close was in Ashley National Forest in the early seventies. Bill and I were camped there for a rafting trip on the Green River below the Flaming Gorge dam and a visit to some of Bill's old haunts around Manila, Utah.
Bill was off getting more gear out of the car, and I had just started cooking supper when I heard something -- a pretty large something, by the sound of it -- just beyond the edge of our campsite, maybe 20 feet away. When I looked up, all I could see was a long, dark brown back. It kind of looked like a horse until it raised its head. Then I recognized it as a moose. It was one of those good news-bad news moments: I was ecstatic to see a moose, but a little concerned about being that close.
In 1978, a few moose were transplanted on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park, just across the mountains from where Bill and I lived. I didn't live there long enough to see them migrate over to the east side, but my brother Bob has posted several photos of them in that same yard lately. According to a story in May in the Denver Post, that small group has now multiplied and migrated to other parts of Colorado. It's another moose population that is doing well, at the moment, rather than declining.
Moose are such awesome animals. Wise up, man of Earth, before we trash one more acre, one more stream, one more species.
Related articles:
Moose Die-Off Alarms Scientists (New York Times, 10/15/13)
States Initiating Research on Moose Declines; Minnesota Halts Hunt (Wildlife Management Institute, earlier in 2013)
Declining moose populations in some areas of Ontario puzzles biologists (Toronto Star, 10/16/13)
'Moose die-off' not seen in Yukon, where populations stable (CBC, 10/15/13)