House committee mulls declining trends in Minnesota moose populations

Two Minnesota scientists on Tuesday told a House panel that moose populations in northeastern Minnesota are continuing on a downward trend.

Glenn DelGiudice, a wildlife biologist with the Department of Natural Resources, told the House Environment and Natural Resources Policy Committee that this year’s annual aerial moose survey showed that population declines that have been registered since the middle of last decade are continuing unabated. The 2014 survey, conducted in January amid excellent snow conditions for spotting moose from the air, estimated 4,350 moose were roaming the woods. That’s down from 2006 when the survey pegged the estimate at 8,840 animals.

“In 2005-2006, we were pretty much at our peak population,” DelGiudice said. “In 2006, we were estimated to be at almost 9,000 animals. Probably in the ‘70s and ‘80s, that’s where it hovered, is right around 10,000 animals.”

DelGiudice and Ron Moen, a moose expert at the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Natural Resources Research Institute, testified for roughly an hour and 20 minutes about the problem.  The committee took no action.

The 2014 moose estimate actually increased considerably from 2013 when the DNR calculated the moose population had dived to 2,760 animals. DNR officials, however, have cautioned against declaring this year’s findings a rebound, noting that last year’s survey didn’t have the benefit of the deep snow that allows the teams of spotters that fly in two helicopters to spot the dark-bodied animals on the ground below. This year’s tally is in line with the 4,230 moose that were estimated in the 2012 survey, DelGiudice said.

As a result of the survey, DNR officials halted the moose hunt in 2013. DNR Wildlife Section Chief Paul Telander told the committee there will need to be at least three consecutive years of population growth before the DNR would consider reinstating the moose hunt.

DelGiudice and Moen discussed the research efforts that are currently being undertaken to understand the decline. Studies are looking into causes like wolf predation, habitat, disease and climate change. DelGiudice pointed to a study that was conducted from 2002 to 2008 that found that higher than normal temperatures in January had an impact on the survival of adult moose.

“It doesn’t tell you a lot about cause. But it does show you that there is a potential, very meaningful connection between climate change and the survival of these animals,” DelGiudice said.

Moen also told the committee about research into moose and climate change. He said technology is developing that is allowing scientists to get better data for their work on a range of factors related to moose populations in the region.

“Where the future is going to be, we don’t know that. But we’re trying to figure it out,” Moen said.