Moose population expanding - and thriving - on Saskatchewan farmland

"There's been this really tremendous shift in the last 30 years," said Ryan Brook, an assistant professor in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. "Three decades ago, if you saw a moose, everybody would stop what they're doing and go see this,'Wow, this is a rare thing.' Now there are populations all through this farmland area here."

There's been this really tremendous shift in the last30 years.- Ryan Brook, University of Saskatchewan

In 2012, Brook and his research team began the process of outfitting 40 mostly female moose with collars that contain a GPS device, a satellite phoneand a small computer all of which helpthe researchers track the animal's location.

Their study,whichis funded by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment, Fish and Wildlife Development Fund and Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation,focused on farmland along Highway 11 between Regina and Saskatoon.

Now, the scientists are trying to find out why the Saskatchewan population appears to be doing so well, especially at a time when many other moose populations in North America are collapsing.

"When we have these populations collapsing, I think it's really important to also be understanding these populations that are expandingand, as far as we could tell, really thriving in these environments," Brooksaid.

In northeast Minnesota, for example, it's estimated that the population of moose has declined by as much as 50 per centin the past few years. Another population in the northwest collapsed in the mid-1990s.

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"It is alarming," said Ron Moen, associate professor in the biology department at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Moen says it's believed a mix of factors contributed to the more recent collapse, including predation, disease and parasites afflicting adult moose, higher death rates ofcalvesand threats to habitat.

Moen said moose populations also appear to be declining in British Columbia, Maine, New Hampshireand North Dakota.

Admittedly, it's hard to pinpoint the exact nature of the moose expansion in Saskatchewan at this point.

Brook says there are no concrete numbers yetbut that when he flies over and travels through the region that is the focus of his study, the number of animals he and his colleagues see"is really quite surprising."

The challenge researchers face is not justcounting the number ofmoose;it's also trying to figure out the ratio of calves to cows and calves to bulls to gauge the health of the population. That's what Brook has been trying to do since the start of the project in 2012.

'More adaptable than we've given them credit for'

But does the recent thriving of the moose population mean that theycouldsomeday go from being a forest animal to a farm animal? Moen says that's unlikely.

"I don't think they're ever going to abandon the forest, but we're seeing that they are more adaptable than we've given them credit for in the past," he said.

Back on the farmland near Kenaston, Sask., Brook and some research assistants are using a radio antenna to try to track down some collared moose. There are signs ofmoose everywhere: tracks, beds and even "super fresh poop."

Research assistant Mike Laforge says he's excited to be part of such research.

"We don't have any information in terms of where these animals are going, what they're doing," he said. "They're new in this ecosystem. We don't really know much about what they do inprairie farmland areas. So, just being on that cutting edge of new research, in terms of what moose are doing in this area, I think, is really important, really interesting."

Just being on that cutting edge of new research, in terms of what moose are doing in this area, I think, is really important.- Mike Laforge, research assistant

There are some theories about why the moose are thriving in Saskatchewan, says Brook: lack of predators, such as black bears and wolves;abundant access to sloughs, whichcombined with willow and other trees that dot thefarmlandprovide excellent cover and a place to cool off;andcropland that offers a tasty buffet (althoughthe moose are picky,Laforgesays,preferring cereals and oilseeds while turning their noses up at pulses).

Brook says some of the most surprising information gathered so far in the study is about the wide range of habitat. Some moose, he says, stay close to highways and roadswhile others avoid them. Some have stayed in one particular rural township, never wandering outsideits10 square kilometres.

Then there was M006.

That particularmooseappeared to stay put after giving birth to a calf. When the calf died,the motherimmediately headed westward, travelling about 21 km a day until she hit Sasktachewan's Lake Diefenbaker.

"So, we see some really extreme movements, and then we see some fairly small ones," said Brook.

Millions of dollars in collisionclaims

Still, there are risks to having more moose in the province particularly on highways and roads.

According to Saskatchewan Government Insurance,there were 311 moose collision claims worth $3 million in the year leading up to Aug. 31, 2015. That's up from the same time period the year before, when there were 257 moose collision claims worth about $2.2 million.

There is no guarantee that theSaskatchewan moose expansion will continue, Brooksaid,especially in light of climate change and other threats.

"Conditions right now are great," he said. "Wetlands are full of water, we've gotlots of good habitat. But if we do tend into a drier part over the next how manyyears, we may start tosee a real decline in moose survival."

Brook's collar project on adult females is reaching its end. Only four collars still work the batteries are starting to go. His team will release a report next spring.

But his hope is to do a similar study onadult males.

Brook and his team has also completed another pilot project with motion-sensor cameras. He hopes to eventually put out as many as 100 of them.

He says moose could act as a good litmus test of how the entire ecosystem is doing.

"If we start to lose things like moose, that's a real indicator that things are in trouble and that our ecosystem is changing, and we need to be worried about that," Brook said.