Save Our Moose

It seems like something off the Discovery Channel. An animal capture team jumping out of a helicopter and wrangling a big animal to put on a satellite collars for biologists. They're from Leading Edge Aviation and have been netting big game for years. We followed along with folks from the US Forest Service in a spotter plane. Flying high over the trees, they tried to pick out a slowly moving moose camouflaged under the forest. Once they see one, the waiting helicopter is called in. The pilot chases the animal into a clearing and the capture team uses a netgun to trap it. This may look dangerous for the moose, but wildlife biologist Steve Windels assured us that they make it as safe as possible.

"You can't protect something if you don't understand it. That's why wildlife researchers have to handle animals and have to do what can be considered invasive techniques."

Windels says it's safer than using tranquilizers because the animal is more likely to die when put under with drugs.

"Our main concern is the animals safety. They want to do this in the most respectful and the least harmful way to these animals."

Once the moose is caught the team jumps out of the helicopter and bind the animal's legs together to keep it from kicking. They place a blindfold over its eyes which helps keep the animal from getting too stressed. The team takes measurements and looks for ticks. They also take blood and hair samples. Finally they put on the state-of-the-art collar. Once they have all the tools packed up the moose is released.

"They get up, they walk away injury free, they go on to lead healthy lives, often have calves, reproduce, they do all their normal things," says Windels.

From the chase to the release it takes about 20 minutes. Twelve moose were collared in two days and next February they'll recapture these same moose to change the batteries. The following year the collars will be removed without disturbing the animal when researchers send a signal to unlatch the collar and it drops to the ground. It's all to study moose in more detail than ever before. Researchers like mammalogist Ron Moen hope to gather clues to what's causing their numbers to drop.

"If we knew the cause already we would point to it and say this is it."

Biologists think parasites from deer and warming temperatures may be playing a roll. The moose in Northwestern Minnesota dropped from 4,000 to less than 100 in just a few decades. Now an aerial survey in January in the Arrowhead showed fewer moose calves in that area. The population in the Northeast also dropped from 7,600 to 5,500 in one year. Even though the number of moose is an estimate, researchers say there's enough evidence of a decline in Northeastern Minnesota to be concerned. Biologists hope more research will help them understand why the moose are struggling. That's where telemetry collars come in.

The new collars will have GPS which will tell researchers exactly where a moose is ever 15 minutes. An activity sensor will let them know whether the animal is walking or laying down. If the moose dies, researchers will be able to get to the body faster and look for answers.

"If you have a carcass that's six days old, it's impossible to determine a cause of death. If you can get in within a day it's a lot easier for a pathologist to be able to say something about why an animal has died," says Moen.

There's also a thermometer which will detail precise temperature changes in its surroundings. Researchers will be able to see how moose adjust their behavior as the temperature changes. It's the type of information scientists have been waiting for, and it's being collected in Voyageurs National Park.

"We don't have hunting, there's no forest management going on, we don't have these other issues with human development. So it's a relatively undisturbed system, and they're great laboratories for studying this type of thing," says Windels.

Researchers are already monitoring the moose. After two years biologists hope to have a better understanding of moose behavior. With any luck they'll also have clues that may help keep moose thriving in Minnesota.

There's a way for the public to help. Researchers are asking you to report any moose sightings at the NRRI website www.nrri.umn.edu/moose.