Glad to see solid science revealing that deer brainworm parasites are the key cause of the Minnesota Moose herd.............Sure, Wolves will kill Moose and it is logical that sick and dying Moose weakened by the parasites are easier pickings for Wolves..........Thus far, the Minn. Dept. of Natural Resources is concluding over the past 3 years of studying Moose that warming temperatures are heat stressing Moose and causing them not to get enough to eat during winter...............During the Summer, Moose can escape the debilitating impact of heat by immersing themselves in lakes and ponds,,,,,,,,,,,,,In winter when thin sheet of ice cover a great stretch of the waterways, Moose that experience heat stress when the temperatures hover at 23 degrees or higher become more vulnerable to the ingestion of brain parasites................More years of study are to come on this subject but "where there is smoke, there is often fire".............The earth is warming---Not good for Moose

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/3933459-diseases-health-problems-killing-minnesota-moose&ct=ga&cd=CAEYAioSNjcxNzYwNDY3MDE0Mzc1MDM1MhozYmI1NzAwZGJhNGVlNTJkOmNvbTplbjpVUw&usg=AFQjCNHAmuHorTIDseM0DkFNKD3WT_8lcw

Parasites, health problems killing Minnesota moose

By Sam Cook on Jan 27, 2016 at 10:39 a.m.

After 3 years of monitoring the Minn.
Moose herd,

Minnesota wildlife researchers say they are getting
 a better understanding of what's killing the stae's 

moose and causing a major population decline.

Preliminary results from 47 of the adult moose

 captured and collared during the past three years

 show that two-thirds died from health-related 

causes including brainworm, winter ticks, bacterial 

infections, liver flukes and severe undernutrition, 

DelGiudice reported. Wolves killed one-third of 

those moose but sickness in 25 percent of those

 animals made them easy prey, he said.

"I think the DNR has come a long way in three 

years and done a good job of answering a lot of 

the unknowns we had from some earlier moose

 studies and what the causes of mortality are," 

said Mike Schrage, wildlife biologist for the 

Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, 

which has been involved in much of Minnesota's

 moose research. "I think they've done a good 

job of getting at some of the interplay between

 health issues and wolf predation."

Of particular interest is how winter nutrition in

 moose affects their health, DelGiudice said. 

When moose are heat-stressed in winter they 

aren't getting enough food and eventually 

succumb to health problems, weakness or wolves.

"It's incredible how it's tracking," he said. "The 

heat stress index of moose is tracking very closely 

with the severity of winter nutrition of these

 moose. What it's saying is that winter nutrition

 could be a key to this."

That information is based on moose urine samples 

the DNR has gathered from the snowpack, DelGiudice

 said.

In summer, he said, moose can go to ponds or streams

 to cool down when they get too warm. In winter, moose 

can only lie in the snow and shade, which offers less 

cooling, DelGiudice said. When air temperatures 

reach 23 degrees in winter, he said, moose can 

begin to experience heat stress, increasing their

 metabolism, heart rates and respiration.

"If the effects of climate change are negatively

 affecting the nutrition of moose in winter, it

 could clearly make them compromised and more

 vulnerable to disease and other things," he said.

Fond du Lac's Schrage finds the correlation

 between winter temperature and moose nutrition

 significant.

"We've been saying for a number of years that we've

 previously found relationships between warm

 temperatures, particularly in winter, and subsequent 

moose mortality," Schrage said. "Glenn's work would

 appear to back that up and show how that happens."

Data that DNR researchers have collected to date is 

far from conclusive, DelGiudice said.

"Only more data on moose deaths collected over

 a longer period of time will determine whether

 the trends researchers are seeing continue," the 

DNR's moose update on its website stated.

DelGiudice said a minimum of six years of data

 will be necessary for a valid study.

"But we know we can't wait to start making some

 preliminary recommendations after three years

 of preliminary findings," DelGiudice said.

Moose for the most part disappeared from

 Northwestern MInnesota in the 1990s and

 their numbers have been crashing in the 

Northeast for the past decade.

In Northeastern Minnesota, moose numbers

 have dropped from about 8,500 moose as

 recently as 2006 to about 3,500 last year. 

The results of this winter's annual aerial 

survey of moose areas will be released in

 coming months.