Where have all the moose gone?

by LearnAnimals.com

We all know moose exist, but where have they gone? You rarely ever see moose in the wild. They are huge, magnificent animals that everyone should get to see in their lifetime. Unfortunately, your chances of seeing moose in the wild gets slimmer all the time. Areas in Minnesota have since a fall in moose population from 4,000 to 240 in the last 20 years. Many areas in the Northern United States and in Canada have seen similar trends.

It is, however, not an all encompassing phenomenon. Other areas of both countries have seen steady levels of moose over the years. Many experts say the drop in moose populations is largely due to home building and timber harvesting. We need to learn how to manage the animal population while growing our population as well.

If you have never seen a moose, you do not actually realize how large these animals are. Moose are one of the largest mammals in North America. The antlers of a male moose alone can weigh up to 60 pounds, with the entire moose weighing up to 1800 pounds. The average moose needs to eat about 30 pounds of food a day. Moose manage this level by eating only leaves and twigs! When you think about it, 30 pounds of leaves and twigs is a giant pile. A moose will be constantly eating throughout the day.

Studies are done in areas of woodland on moose population and migration based on the areas that have been eaten. Amount of food eaten, types of vegetation eaten, and more importantly, vegetation thats not eaten all help study the activities and movements of the moose. The way a moose eats its food is damaging to the forest, and they actually can damage their plants in a way that makes it difficult for the plants to survive. Moose have evolved to understand this, and they stop eating in an area when continuing would cause unsustainable results to their preferred food.

Researchers have also found a strong correlation between moose population and wolf population. The more moose there are in an area, the more wolves there are to be found. This is due to the fact that wolves attack older, weaker animals. If there are larger groups of moose, there will be a wider range in ages, meaning more old animals, and more prey for wolves.

Other than human changes, and predation, the third major factor in determining moose population is climate change. The cold weather is home to moose. They live in Canada, the northern USA, and other cold countries, like Sweden and Switzerland. As construction in areas increase, the heat those cities and towns create are slowly warming the land around them. It shrinks the areas that moose are able to live. It also means the food moose eat, also thriving in cold regions, dies in warmer areas. The moose need to go where they can find food, further secluding themselves.
 

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