Mortality Causes
Ninety-seven of the 400 radio-collared cow moose died between February 2012 and 30 April 2018
Mortality Causes
Ninety-seven of the 400 radio-collared cow moose died between February 2012 and 30 April 2018
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This just gets me pissed off on so many different levels....
Well at least the study has proved what we already know: wolves and First Nation harvest are the primary causes of our moose declines..solutions: convince the government that we need to cull wolves in BC, and we need to educate First Nations that they are supposed to be stewards of the land (I know the majority of them are good)...thanks for posting Sirloin..
Not moose declines, cow moose declines, and unlicensed could also be poachers. 15% unlicensed isn't a number that I would really be concerned about IF the wolf take wasn't so high...I think the big thing we have to look at here is the wolf kills, and not get distracted by what in essence could be a sustainable harvest in all other facets
WSSBC Monarch
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Sounds about right.
Predation contributes to the apparent starvation as well...documented in the national parks where the moose are avoiding productive ranges and choosing to subsist on marginal range...probably contribute to the health numbers as well..stress being major driver of health issues...ecology of fear. Ungulate numbers will only be utilizing 10% of available range do to predation...
It is well to try and journey ones road and to fight with the air.Man must die! At worst he can die a little sooner." (H Ryder Haggard)
Very interesting, what is the source of this study? Would be good to communicate this information to the anti-hunters and predator hunt opposers...
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Adult Onset Hunter
CCFR Member
Wherever there is Animal Worship there is Human Sacrifice. That is, both symbolically and literally, a real truth of historical experience.— G. K. Chesterton
“People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.” -Otto von Bismarck
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.-Albert Einstein
Study-"Since this project was initiated in 2012, we fitted GPSradiocollarsona total of 460 individual Moose:400 cows and 60 8-month old calves."
Still confident that bears are the biggest culprits in the decline. Given a chance they can practically decimate the most vulnerable-the very young especially ones up to 2 months.
“People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.” -Otto von Bismarck
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.-Albert Einstein
It appears during this study, the main culprit for collared calve mortality was by far wolves.
"We identified the probable proximate cause of death for the 97 cow mortalities as 52 predation (42 Wolf,4 Cougar, 6 bear), 16 hunting (1 licensed, 15 unlicensed), 19 health-related (9 apparent starvation, 2 failed
predation attempt, 1 chronic bacterial infection, 1 peritonitis, 1 prolapsed uterus, 5 unknown healthrelated), 3 natural accident, and 7 unknown. There were 21 calf mortalities which all occurred between 11
March and 23 May. Proximate probable cause of mortality of calves was 11 predation (9 Wolf, 1 Cougar,
1 Bear), 8 health-related (4 apparent starvation, 2 apparent starvation/tick, 1 failed predation attempt, 1
gastro-intestinal infection) and 1 vehicle collision. We recorded a significantly higher proportion of
health-related (particularly apparent starvation) mortalities (i.e., 45%) in 2016/17 than in 2017/18."