BUTTE, Mont. (AP) - Biologists are trying to determine the cause of six moose deaths in the Upper Big Hole Valley in southwest Montana since 2013.
So far, laboratory tests have proved inconclusive.
“The mortalities were happening in late summer and early fall when the moose are usually fat and happy,” Nick DeCesare, state research biologist, told The Montana Standard (https://bit.ly/1wymmwc).
The six adult female moose died of either disease or malnutrition, but exactly the nature of the disease or what caused the malnutrition is unknown.
Researchers have their suspicions.
Arterial worm is suspected as the cause for 30 percent of the deaths, but DeCesare stressed the results are preliminary. Wildlife researchers are also exploring other possible causes.
“We are testing for other bacterial and viral disease exposure as well and we are not convinced that arterial worm is the only culprit,” DeCesare said via email. “We know from hunter-killed moose that healthy animals can carry the worm, too, so it doesn’t necessarily cause death or severe health problems in all cases of infection.”
More conclusive results are expected this summer.
Research into the moose deaths is part of a larger 10-year moose study in the Cabinets, the Rocky Mountain Front and the Wisdom to Jackson area in the Upper Big Hole River Valley. Scientists are three years into the study.
Thirty-one moose are collared and being monitored. Ten in the Big Hole area have GPS trackers on them as well.
The moose population is not in danger, Vanna Boccadori, state wildlife biologist told the Big Hole River Watershed Committee recently.
In fact, mortality rates for moose calves are improving, according to the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
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Information from: The Montana Standard, https://www.mtstandard.com
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