WINTER2017
MLBLUE
89
BIO
PHILIAC
words :: Leslie Anthony
In the spring of 1904, two bull and two cowmoose from New Brunswick’s
Miramachi region were released near the small community of Howley in
western Newfoundland. It wasn’t the first such experiment on the 111,390
km
2
island once considered a peripatetic sportsman’s paradise until its
only native ungulate, woodland caribou, was hunted to near extinction in
the late nineteenth century. Unlike previous failedmoose introductions,
however, this one went swimmingly. By 1935
Alcesalces
had occupied
much of the island—aided in no small part by extirpation of wolves
around 1930. Regulated hunting began, but moose populations continued
to climb. As hunting pressure increased, officials instituted a lottery
system focused on areas where moose needed thinning. With abundant
food and negligible predation by the island’s lynx, coyote and bear, that
was soon everywhere.
Today, invasive moose are whimsically deemed “hyperabundant” by
provincial wildlife ecologists, and an estimated 150,000 descendants
of those original four now represent 10 percent of moose
inall ofNorth
America
, stuffed into less than two percent of the species’ range. Aside
from strategic culling in national parks, hunting has proved inadequate
as a control measure. With an average 20,000moose taken annually
but over 40,000 calves born each year, it’s not hard to plot the upward
trending growth curve. Regardless, the annual fall hunt is now a deeply
entrenched cultural tradition celebrated in story and song, withmoose
featured everywhere from ski-area cafeterias and backyard barbeques to
community festivals and restaurants promoting locally sourced foods.
Moose has made an indelible mark on Newfoundland’s identity, but it has
alsomarked the landscape on which it is now the driving ecological force.
With an average density of 1.7moose/km
2
—some 3–20 times greater
than other boreal ecosystems in which it’s native—the Newfie moose has
exceeded its adopted environment’s carrying capacity. Intensive browsing
by animals that can weigh 450 kg has reduced abundance and distribution
of native species like balsam fir andmountain ash, severely inhibiting
forest regeneration in both timber-harvested and insect-disturbed areas.
This alteration of forest ecosystems has affected habitat for everything
from birds to lichen, even facilitating an influx of exotic plants for which
moose coincidentally function as main vectors of seed dispersal. Though
the imported icon packs a serious ecological punch, there’s an even
bigger problem: moose-vehicle collisions, some 740 annually that include
hundreds of injuries and a minimum two deaths. Estimated cost to the
province of each accident is ~$31,000 CAD, or $23million/year at current
collision rates.
Ironically, the critical mass of invasive moose messing up Newfoundland
may represent a last NorthAmerican stronghold of this iconic animal.
That’s because virtually elsewhere else on the continent, including Ontario,
the species is in freefall.
By 2013, alarming declines were seen everywhere fromQuebec westward.
InMinnesota, the moose hunt was suspended indefinitely. Dramatic
declines both there and inMichigan resulted inmoose being deemed “a
species of concern” with talk of listing it as endangered. Even in areas of
relative abundance or natural increase, all signs now point to imminent
collapse. As withmost animals in decline, potential causes are numerous
and inter-related, and include climate change and associated effects,
industrial disturbance, habitat loss, excessive hunting pressure, disease,
and pollution. These interact in complex ways that will vary from region to
region. But if we zoom in on the most obvious three “natural” factors—
disease, predators and climate—you needn’t look far into that troika to
find an odd connection: propelled by climate and habitat changes, the
continent’s deer are overpopulating and expanding everywhere, with the
result of spreading disease tomoose and increasing their depredation.
InMinnesota and parts of northern Ontario, for instance, 40 percent of
adult moose are dying from brainworm (
Parelaphostrongylus tenuis
), a tiny
parasite transmitted by deer. An additional 20 percent are dying from higher
than normal winter tick loads, and a final 20 percent from a combination of
stressors. InAlberta’s Jasper National Park, moose decline is attributed to
deadly giant liver fluke (
Fascioloidesmagna
), more wolves, and continued
collisions on rail lines and highways traversing the park. Another emerging
problem is decreasing calf survival. InMinnesota’s Grand Portage Trust
Lands, 90 percent of moose calves die each year—75 percent lost to
predation in the first weeks of life, 15 percent to health issues.
MOOSE
CROSSING
THECOMPLEXSTORYOFMOOSEPOPULATION
DECLINE INONTARIOANDELSEWHERE
Inpartsof northernOntario, 40percent of adult
moosearedying frombrainworm, a tinyparasite
transmittedbydeer. Anadditional 20percent are
dying fromhigher thannormalwinter tick loads…
