Kingdom moose hunt proposed for herd health

A hunt limited to taking about 33 moose in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom is being proposed by state wildlife officials to reduce the impact of winter ticks on the population.

The proposal was presented by the Fish and Wildlife Department to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife board at its Feb. 19 meeting in Montpelier.

“Moose density in WMU E is more than one moose per square mile, significantly higher than any other part of the state,” said Nick Fortin, Vermont Fish and Wildlife’s biologist in charge of the moose project. “Moose densities greater than one per square mile support high numbers of winter ticks, which negatively impact moose health and survival.” 

The department partnered with University of Vermont researchers to study moose health and survival in the region.  The results of the study, in which 126 moose (36 cows, 90 calves) were fitted with GPS tracking collars, clearly showed that chronic high winter tick loads have caused the health of moose in that part of the state to be very poor. 

Survival of adult moose remained relatively good, but birth rates were very low and less than half of the calves survived their first winter.