Minnesota: "Latest Moose Count Provides Little Good News"

"Calves may be doing better, but the trend is discouraging long-term."

"Minnesota’s moose continued their long decline in 2015.

The state’s annual aerial survey, taken in January, estimated the state’s moose population at 4,020, up slightly from the previous year. But the change was not significant enough to signal a shift in the long downward trend, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said Tuesday. The population has dropped by more than half since 2006.

Offering a glimmer of hope, moose numbers have stabilized somewhat in recent years, and the number of calves that survived their first year doubled compared to an earlier count.

“It’s encouraging to see that the decline … since 2012 has not been as steep, but longer-term projections continue to indicate that the population decline will continue,” said Glenn DelGiudice, the DNR’s moose project leader."

Josephine Marcotty reports for the Minneapolis Star Tribune February 17, 2016.