Moose Conference A Learning Experience

By 250 News

The Conference on Moose has been told  that depending on the area, the moose population may increase or decrease as a result of the massive destruction of forest by the Mountain Pine beetle.

Chris Ritchie of the Ministry of Environment of BC says new roads will make them more susceptible to hunting, while on the other hand more grazing will likely come as a result of   disappearance of  large mountain pine stands. "The wolf population is also likely to increase if the Moose population goes up" he added, "which in turn could spell increased pressure on the caribou."   

He was speaking to the 43^rd Annual North American Moose Conference and Workshop in Prince George.  The conference  was attended by scientists and Biologists alike from all over the world.

From Lulea University of Technology in Sweden and the Bodo University College in Norway, the gathering was told that the winter population of moose in those two countries is now estimated at 500,000 animals.

Speakers and contributors came from Nova Scotia where their population of Moose is estimated at between 1,000 and 1200 animals. There was also a large contingent from the USA.  In North Dakota they face a problem of Moose switching from browsing  to crops such as corn and cattle feed sites causing their death. There has been major increase of Moose in the predominantly flat land states, and north of the border in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

This is the second time in 43 years that the Moose Conference has been held in this city .

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