Island Moose Population Takes a Dive

Researcher Rolf Peterson has spent more than 30 years studying moose and wolves on a remote wilderness island in Lake Superior. Peterson says moose on Isle Royale are suffering from warmer-than-usual weather in recent years. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Stephanie Hemphill reports:

Transcript

Researcher Rolf Peterson has spent more than 30 years studying moose and wolves on a remote
wilderness island in Lake Superior. Peterson says moose on Isle Royale are suffering from
warmer-than-usual weather in recent years. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Stephanie
Hemphill reports:


There are 750 moose on Isle Royale. That’s down from 900 last year.


Isle Royale has had hot summers and warm, snowless winters most years since the 1998 El Nino.
Peterson says when summers are hot, the moose don’t eat enough. And they have to fight off
more ticks.


They spend a lot of time grooming when they should be feeding, and they lose a lot of blood,
potentially. It could be in the winter when they’re not in very good condition, they have to
replace their entire blood supply over a period of a few short weeks.


Meanwhile, wolves on the island are taking advantage of the weakness of the moose. Last year
there were 19 wolves; this year, 29. But Peterson says the wolf population will eventually
decline, as there are fewer moose to eat.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Stephanie Hemphill.

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