AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife biologists are getting ready to round up some moose.
Starting in the coming week, biologists will be capturing and collaring 130 moose as Maine’s moose survival study enters its sixth year and focuses on a new study area.
The study began in the winter of 2014 in western Maine and a second study area in northern Maine was added in 2016.
Over five years, 475 moose were captured by helicopter-launched nets and fitted with a GPS collar. This year, the program will include a new area north of Moosehead Lake.
The collars enable staff to remotely track moose locations and movements over time, and to be notified if a moose dies.
Adult cows are monitored each spring and summer to determine birth rates and survival rates of calves. For each collared moose, biologists collect detailed health information, including a blood sample, parasite loads, body condition, and winter tick loads.
This information provides researchers with an unprecedented, in-depth look at moose health, officials say.