Two Minnesota radio-collared cow moose, known simply as B8146 and D0982, now have their own Internet home page. B8164 lives at Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and was captured and collared by researchers in January of 1996. D0982, captured in March of 1997, is from Red Lake Wildlife Management Area (WMA). These two moose are well-known to students at 19 Minnesota schools which participate in the Adopt-A-Moose program and now track the animals via the Internet.
The Adopt-A-Moose program was initiated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in 1996 to promote awareness of and support for solving the mystery of declining moose numbers in northwest Minnesota. Local businesses, sportsmen and conservation groups, and individuals sponsored moose by contributing $400--the cost of a radio collar--to the research effort. In return for that support, students and sponsors are given regular updates on the status of their adopted moose.
As the project grew in size and more moose were sponsored, Maggie Anderson, manager of the Agassiz NWR, and the DNRs Red Lake Wildlife Area manager Gretchen Mehmel began to explore the possibility of establishing a home page to allow a direct and interactive method of following the moose research project. And soon, the Minnesota Moose Mystery page become a reality.
Thanks to a challenge grant issued by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the new home page is now on-line and all Minnesota students and Internet users have access to the study. The page offers a comprehensive guide to the research project; detailing the history of moose in Minnesota, outlining the ongoing research, and tallying the results. Beyond providing statistics, the site also offers habitat photos, video of an actual helicopter net gun moose capture, interviews with moose biologists and audio of a cow moose. Also featured are the travels of B8164 and D0982-- from the time of their capture to where they are today.
Mehmel hopes the website will allow more Minnesotans to participate in the moose study. "The Internet page was a lot of work to plan and set up, but its really great to have it out there for everyone to access, said Mehmel. Were hoping the site will be used by a wide variety of people--from school classes to moose hunters, college students, nature enthusiasts, and other resource managers. Researchers have received positive feedback on the page from several teachers. The site may also be a useful tool to help students fulfill the new Minnesota Graduation Standards.
In addition to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Mehmel and Anderson credit Wildlife Forever, the Rice Area Sportsmens Club, the Hartz Foundation, and the U.S. Geological Survey for underwriting the cost of establishing the home page, which promises to be both educational and fun for users.
Through the page, students and sponsors are learning about moose biology, scientific research methods, population dynamics, disease, parasites, and predator/prey relationships. In addition, students have been provided samples of moose hair, bones, skulls, and library books for their own research and reference use. Currently, 93 classes and about 2,700 students are enrolled in the Adopt-A-Moose program, along with over 30 sponsors.
People care about this monarch of the north country, says Anderson, and they want it to remain a part of the natural landscape. Since 1995 over 88 partners have contributed to the research and Adopt-A-Moose programs, giving over $50,000 for the purchase of moose collars and helicopter capture of animals. Twenty volunteers have contributed 18,000 hours tracking moose, performing necropsies, and entering data. Private companies have loaned radio receivers, snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles. And private landowners have been very helpful--many moose in the study were captured and collared on private land, so landowner cooperation was very important.
The partnership aspect of this project has been incredible, Anderson adds. And now, because everyone in the surrounding communities knows about the project, everyone is on the lookout for moose with collars. We even had a group of kids on the school bus ride home spot one of our research animals. Wed been looking for that particular cow for several days but couldnt pick up her signal. The cow had moved nearly 28 miles from where she had last been recorded. Without the kids reporting the animal, it could have taken days to locate her.
The research project is also beginning to provide answers to the moose mystery. Since 1995, over 155 moose have been radio collared; 106 adult moose and 49 calves. Of these, 53 moose have died. The signal put out by tracking collars enables researchers to quickly locate individual moose upon their death and determine the cause of their demise. Most revealing from a research standpoint were the causes of death--30 adults and 14 calves perished due to disease, parasites or starvation. Other mortalities resulted from predation or unknown causes.
This information is important, says Mehmel, who manages over 250,000 acres of public land in the Red Lake WMA. It gives us clues as to why the population is declining. We suspect the decline is due to a combination of parasites and disease. So now were testing blood and tissue samples for disease.
While researchers have not been able to pinpoint the exact cause of the population decline, they have eliminated some possibilities, such as bear and wolf predation. Early on many people assumed moose numbers were declining due to increased predation, notes Agassiz NWR manager Anderson. But the mortality analysis just doesnt support that.
Both Anderson and Mehmel encourage those interested in the research project and in moose population updates to access the new moose page at: http://www.fws.gov/r3pao/agassiz/moose.html. For more information on project sponsorship or on using the website for environmental education, contact Maggie Anderson at (218) 449-4115 or Gretchen Mehmel at (218) 783-6861. Field research is scheduled to end next fall.
WEBSITE ADDRESS FOR THE
MINNESOTA MOOSE MYSTERY:
http://www.fws.gov/r3pao/agassiz/moose.html
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
