GPS Tracking to Help Minnesota’s Declining Moose Mystery

20 Feb 2013

moose

GPS technology will hopefully soon help curb the devastating decline in the moose population of Minnesota.

In St. Paul, Minnesota, researchers are working on a way to program GPS trackers to track down dead moose. The research was developed shortly after Minnesota saw a sharp decline in its moose population. Devices will be implanted in the moose and along with GPS technology, researchers at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) hope to find out the cause of the mortality rates.

Declining Moose Population

Not only are moose deaths rising in the area of the north woods, but there is a fear that whatever is killing the moose could lead to threats of other animals and humans.

In 2006, there were more than 8,000 moose living in the state and in 2011, the number was half that at 4,200.  Moose should be able to live 20 years, but many are dying much sooner than that. In northeastern Minnesota alone, the population of moose declined by 35 percent since last year, reports Reuters.

“We know the population is declining. We don’t know exactly why,” said Lou Cornicelli, the wildlife research manager of DNR. Some experts contend that parasites (ticks), warmer weather, and disease play a role in the declining moose numbers in the state.

Moose Autopsy Aided with Cutting Edge Technology

Researchers plan to capture 100 adult moose and 50 calves in the northeastern parts of Minnesota. All of the captured moose will have tracking collars on them and a good majority will also have implanted GPS transmitters, which are placed into their digestive tracts. The trackers will send an alert to researchers, who also have a connected GPS unit, when the moose dies, so that they can determine the cause of death and location of the moose.

Once the moose’s heart stops beating, the implanted device sends a text message to the researcher. The collar helps them locate the moose, hopefully within 24 hours so they can conduct their research, which constitutes an autopsy. If the team of veterinarians and biologists can get to the moose within 24 hours, the organs will still be viable enough to determine what killed the moose. There will also be text message alerts from the collars on the moose if the animal has not moved for more than six hours.

Before modern GPS technology, it would take scientists at least a week to find the animal, when it is too late to find out what caused the death, either because the animal’s body started to decompose or its was eaten by wilderness scavengers.

“We want to get in there within 24 hours and see why they died,” said Glenn DelGiudice, project leader for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). “This is cutting edge technology.”

“Species of Concern” Mission

Due to the recent rise in moose death, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources wants to add the animal to their endangered species list. If the DNR can successfully move moose in the state to the “species of concern” list, researchers would have more opportunities for protecting them, but would need to be listed as an endangered or threatened species in order to prohibit hunting.

For the last five years, the DNR has been working on getting moose moved to the endangered species list, and they hope to have it finalized by the end of 2013. 67 other animals may also be moving to the list. If the moose appear on the list, it would be illegal to hunt the animal as well as killing them. With their population already declining at a rapid pace, any protection they can offer will aid researchers until they can figure out what is causing the deaths.

 


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