By the way, MN is at the fringe of the moose's southern thermal range. With all the other stresses, if regional temps do go up even slightly their population/range will recede. It ain't just one thang!
Poor bastids.....
You're right about the temps; and diseases and parasites that go with it. But generally, I'd blame the start at about the 70s. Before that, black bear were nearly considered varmints. All deer hunting licences used to come with a bear tag. The forests were all young, having been clear-cut heavily; leaving lots of moose food. Wolves were newly protected. I hunted moose north of Sawbill lake in 1975. We had moose swimming in front of the boat, accross the lake during the whole trip. It was amazing! We saw probably 35 moose during the 6 days we hunted. I spent the last 25 years working in the "boundary waters", and rarely saw moose on the lakes. Lots of older locals can tell you stories of large groups of moose in the clear cuts back before the 70s. A lot of that young forest has matured since. Anyway, the drop in numbers has not been only during the last few years, its been happening for decades. Lots of pressure on the moose with all the changes in forest management, predator increases, and those damn commercials featuring sick puppies and sad music. Totally peeves me...
Oh, and while I'm peeved, I might as well add: FU T-bone! Hah!
