Wyoming Puzzled By Collapse In Moose Population - ENN

[hatrack]

JACKSON, Wyo. — "Moose populations in western Wyoming have fallen so low that the Game and Fish Department is considering closing the hunting season in parts of the region. Now, the Game and Fish and the Wyoming Department of Transportation are teaming up to study why populations are falling, and what can be done about it.

Game and Fish spokesman Mark Gocke said biologists would fit between 40 and 45 moose with global positioning system radio collars, so that biologists can study the animals' movements over the next two years.
"The bottom line is, there's still a lot of speculation out there as to why our moose population continues to decline ...," Jackson wildlife biologist Doug Brimeyer said in a statement. "Some say it's predators, some say it's habitat, drought or poor nutrition, at this point we really don't know."

Game and Fish would like to see about 3,600 moose in the herds that live around Jackson. Right now, that number seems a faraway goal. An estimated 2,700 animals were in the herds around Jackson in 2003, up from an average of about 2,400 animals from 1998 through 2002.

Despite that single-year rise, overall moose numbers in the region have gone down over the years, forcing Game and Fish to respond by reducing the number of hunting permits. A record 495 moose permits were issued in 1991; that number dropped to just 75 permits last year, and now Game and Fish is considering prohibiting moose hunting in areas 7, 14 and 32 in the Teton Wilderness."

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http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=7105

[villager]

1. oh, they'll blame it on "predators" -- the non human kind,

and use it as an excuse to go after wolves, or de-list Grizzlies or something. Everything to avoid looking at habitat degradation, climate change, etc.

[KT2000]

2. So sad

this is happening to so many species. They are so defenseless against human destruction.
God this makes me sick.

[BearClaws]

3. Well....

Like it or not, I think there is direct connection to the rising wolf population and the declining moose population.
It generally takes a few years for someone to notice.
The wolves take a huge toll on the young calves, which are the recruitment for the moose population.
IMHOP I believe that wildlife should be managed strictly scientifically and all the cutesy emotional stuff left out.
If some predators need to be removed for the good of the ecosystem, so be it.
Man has irreversibly changed the ecosystem, sometimes it may be unpleasant to some, but we do need to step in sometime if we want a constant (yet artificial) balance.
In the real world without man, there are cycles of population crashes between predator and prey.