Yesterday, the New York Times ran an article on the disappearing Moose in North America.  From Minnesota to Montana to British Columbia, it noted that the moose population was in steep decline.  Twenty years ago, Minnesota had two geographically separate moose populations; one of which has declined from 4,000 to fewer than 100 today.   The other population has declined from 8,000 to fewer than 3,000 today.  The exact cause has biologists confused, but a common thread in most hypotheses is climate change.  Winters have grown substantially shorter across much of the moose's range, which is enabling parasites to thrive.  Today, a moose can get over 100,000 ticks, and brain worm and liver flukes are thriving now, too, given the increased moist environments. Heat stress and the pine bark beetle's destruction of forest has left moose more exposed to hunters, too.  Wildlife officials are now suspending permits for moose hunting.

 

The moose depicted here was photographed in Alaska.  This is Nelson, and he is one of the lucky ones.  Orphaned as a baby, he was rescued by the Alaska Department Fish and Game, and has been raised in a preserve designed to protect him.  He initially required round-the-clock care in nursing and feeding him, but he is now strong and fully grown and is thriving at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center not too far from Kenai National Park.  He seemed to enjoy my company and the presence of my camera.