Minnesota wildlife researchers will keep trying to collar and study newborn moose calves in 2015 even though things haven’t gone well during the first two years of the effort.

Last May and June, researchers put GPS collars on 25 moose calves just hours after they were born. But 19 of the 25 calves either were abandoned by their mothers and had to be rescued, or their collars fell off or stopped working, leaving only six calves to be studied.

By August, all six had been eaten by predators, mostly wolves.

“It’s frustrating. But we need to persevere,” said Glenn DelGiudice, lead moose researcher for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/3685061-minnesota-moose-calf-study-works-through-setbacks

If six of the six calves were killed, that should be enough to tell even a government study something. Unless the cows died from the tick disease and the calves left to fend for themselves.. it is obvious the wolves are the problem to some degree.

Sounds like one of those instances where the public might actully pay them not to do the work.

What are their actual objectives?

Their objectives are to find out why Minnesota famous Moose herd is heading towards extinction. The Calf survival rate is awful and I think they're getting a better idea why.

If their actions are causing 73% of calves in the study to be abandoned or be in need of rescue, their study is causing far more harm than good and violates the tenets of valid field research.

Even if they get any data, the data is useless to study the problem they have identified because their study is impacting the study group to a significant and unnatural degree.

Whomever is the oversight board on this study needs to jerk the lead scientist in and chew their ass like breaking up new ground. That study is so FUBAR it's ridiculous and would fail miserably as a proposed science fair project. To have this supposedly done for professional reasons to identify a game management issue and be peer reviewed is ludicrous.

There are people with experience who can do this properly but Minnesota is going to figure it out for itself--eventually and if they don't kill all their moose first.

They already don't like where the data is taking them.

You don't expect this researcher to admit it's a bad idea and put himself out of business do you? He's probably the one that drew up the grant application.

Kinda reminds me of climate change researchers.

The problem is that the wolves have become such a huge political debate. Down in the Twin Cites where I live a person cant hardly listen to the radio without hearing anti-wolf hunting/trapping commercials every hour. The abundance of wolves are obviously affecting our deer and moose population (because deer /moose are the wolves prey, obviously). I hunt north of Duluth and its been sparse on deer to say the least. When we do see deer tracks and moose tracks they mostly have a wolf and up to the whole pack tracking or chasing them. My guess is that the adult moose carry so many ticks all summer on them and are then consistently stressed from the wolves. Throw in a warmer than normal summer season here and there with a worse winter or two and its going to be hard on them. Then add the calves that are killed off by wolves in high numbers and .......... My two pennies worth

They need to continue the study. How else will they prove that its global warming and not the wolves?

My first thought was why didn't they research why the cows were abandoning the calves. Surely it wouldn't be because the researchers were messing with them, would it? I'd say it's a 95% chance.

I honestly don't know but I would bet the cows were collared from the previous winter.
Cow stops moving on a point,or penninsula or an island--they figure it is birthing so they run in and grab the calf that was just recently born--the damn things will just lay there and since the cows are kinda used to wolves and bears doing the same thing they just move on.
Cow moose seem to have to learn how to be good mommas.
Now you take a 4 or 5 year old Cow that has been nursing that calf for a couple of days--you gonna have your hands full gettin anywhere near that calf.

And there ya go! Its always about getting money for a program and spending that money. The helicopter and fixed wing they had circling spent over two hours in back of my place a week ago. They were as close as 200 yards from my house. They were apparently chasing "my" young cow and her calf (her first one) around, trying to see collars or something (they don't have collars). Its thick back there and I suspect they were trying to chase her out into the open. I doubt it was a capture crew; its way too thick to land and they didn't try to get back there through my land, the only way. But, of course, they could have just asked me or my neighbor about the moose. We've both been keeping track of them; She is about 5 years old and has been hanging around here her entire life. Her mother died on my property two years ago. I've been thinking she is in greater danger from wolves this winter, as the whitetail were all killed off from last winter's weather, this area's second coldest winter in recorded history. Wolves will be starving this winter.

Anyway, it seems pretty stupid to hassle the moose pair, the day before one of the coldest nights of the year (-25F that night), new mother cow, and young calf, hiding successfuly from the area wolves....so far. But, the guys have money and gas to burn, so up go the aircraft; to "persevere." At least preliminary reports seem to suggest that predation won't be ignored in the final report. Its obvious this time, and the state really has no reason to downplay the predation any longer. More wolf and bear tags please. That would help a little bit.

Bill

If there were six functioning collars and all six were taken down by predators, that's 100% predation.....what's to perservere?

They know exactly why. Read the last paragraph of the article.

100% predator-caused mortality.

What's the question again?

The moose are obviously being subjected to too much human predation. Better ban them assault rifles!

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.....

I'll bet that MN is considerably colder than southern Idaho and we have lots of moose here.

It's not the friggin weather.

Colder there than on the Kenai "moose range".

I saw a post by someone on here that said the Moose are vanishing from the Kenai. Any truth to that?

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!

Without the tick stress and deer competion. It ain't just one thang!

True. Old burns grew up.. Hard to feed on 40 foot tall birch/aspen. Probably 15 % of the moose population we had in the late 80s- early 90s. Wolf and bear predation levels same or increased. . Can you spell predator pit?

You're saying they need food!?!? Well I'll be!
Moose pasture!

Neither I nor my neighbor have seen the two moose again.

Its my understanding that governor Dayton has suspended the study.

Why are the moose overpopulating where there are no wolves? This is also proof global warming his not the problem for moose numbers at all. Grand Royal is an Island on the west side of Lake Superior very near Minnesotas declining moose numbers. And!!! ! ! ! If the idiot government should set up a moose hunt there ,, have a lottery to raise money to further study the moose and to just plain save the moose. But NO , now they want to let nature take it's course , let the island get eaten down to nothing and then, , , let the moose starve. What idiots we have when it comes to wildlife management. Better to plant more wolves than let the island get eaten up.


On Grand Royal Island there are 3 wolves left and the moose numbers are exploding. This is proof that wolves do a number on moose. Grand Royale is an island in Lake Superior not far from northern Minnesota.ng out of subjects. Lake Superior's Isle Royale, where the study has been conducted for nearly six decades, is down to its last three wolves.

As Nature journal reports, scientists have studied the relationship between moose and wolves on the 210-square-mile island for the last 57 years, but the population of carnivores has taken major hits through disease and birth defects over the past decade.


Enlarge
The last three wolves remaining on Isle Royale. (Michigan Technological University )
Isle Royale researchers say that the wolf population has plummeted to three in their most recent report, compared to nine wolves last year.
(MORE: Rare Gray Wolf Photographed in Grand Canyon Confirmed Killed)

John Vucetich, project leader and associate professor of wildlife ecology at Michigan Technological University, said in a statement that the wolf population is likely beyond redemption.

Vucetich and co-leader Rolf Peterson have called for 'genetic rescue' for years; meaning, with the importation of fresh wolves (and thus, fresh wolf DNA), the ailing population could have been bolstered and ultimately saved.

Now that window has shut.

"There is now a good chance that it is too late to conduct genetic rescue," Vucetich said.

Inbreeding, the researchers say, weakened the island's wolf population by introducing skeletal deformations and diseases that increased mortality rates.

While the study of predators will likely come to an end, the disappearing wolf population affords other scientific opportunities.

As the wolves vanish from Isle Royale, moose thrive. The researchers say that moose numbers jump by around 22 percent each year and range near 1,250 now. With no wolves to cut those numbers down, the voracious moose will continue to feast on the island's landscape until it's nearly barren.

There have been calls for intervention, as Vucetich and Peterson evidence, but some argue that a hands-off approach is best, according to Nature.

"Chances are good that one [of the remaining wolves] is a male and one is a female, and that is how the whole population started, so it would be interesting to see what happens in the next year," U.S. Geological Survey wolf biologist David Mech said. "I think we should just continue to study the situation and describe what happens."

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Overrun by Animals

Quite some time back, AK did a study on moose predation and found out black bears were far worse a problem than realized. The moose would calve down by the rivers and the Bears would just follow them down there when they started smelling the births.

Of course as stated, there are numerous factors.

It appears the "tracking collar" may be the issue. Anyway, Gov. Spooky put a stop to it via executive order last month.