Moose population expanding - and thriving - on Saskatchewan farmland

They are one of the great symbols of the boreal forest, but moose also appear to be thriving in an unexpected part of Canada — the farmland of Saskatchewan — and a group of university researchers is trying to find out why.

"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."

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 phone and a small computer — all of which help the researchers track the animal's location.

Their study, which is 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 expanding and, as far as we could tell, really thriving in these environments," Brook said.

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

"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 of calves and threats to habitat.

Moen said moose populations also appear to be declining in British Columbia, Maine, New Hampshire and 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 yet but 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 just counting the number of moose; 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 they could someday 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 of moose 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 in prairie 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."

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, which combined with willow and other trees that dot the farmland provide excellent cover and a place to cool off; and cropland that offers a tasty buffet (although the moose are picky, Laforge says, 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 roads while others avoid them. Some have stayed in one particular rural township, never wandering outside its 10 square kilometres.

Then there was M006.

That particular moose appeared to stay put after giving birth to a calf. When the calf died, the mother immediately 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 collision claims

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 the Saskatchewan moose expansion will continue, Brook said, especially in light of climate change and other threats.

"Conditions right now are great," he said. "Wetlands are full of water, we've got lots of good habitat. But if we do tend into a drier part over the next how many years, we may start to see 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 on adult 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.