New research highlights main killer of Minnesota moose

NORTHERN MINNESOTA (Northern News Now) - Researchers announced a breakthrough in their work this month, finding out why Minnesota’s moose population has tumbled.

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The research comes from the University of Minnesota and the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

“Moose are a keystone indicator species of a healthy boreal forest ecosystem,” Seth Moore, director of natural resources for the Grand Portage Band, said.

According to the Minnesota DNR, there were roughly 9,000 moose in 2006, and the population plunged to 4,700 by 2022.

“We learned through our collaring work from the last 12 or 13 years that brainworm is the leading cause of mortality for adult moose,” Moore said.

Their new findings point to a new carrier of the killer parasite, snails and slugs.

“We were able to conclusively prove the moose were consuming the gastropod species that carry brainworm, and this was done through genetic analysis of moose feces,” Moore said.

Researchers are trying to find ways to manage the population of those snails and slugs so that fewer moose are infected.

Tyler Garwood with the University of Minnesota is one of the scientists looking into that research.

“We’ve got these new molecular techniques that really allow us to kind of dig into the ecology of those lesser known pieces of the transmission cycle, like the slug or snail side,” Garwood said.

Experts said when brainworm gets into a moose, the parasite attacks the nervous system, ultimately killing them.

“What happens is they end up either dying of starvation or predation because they’re much more susceptible to being preyed on by wolves,” Moore said.

Moore said moose get the parasite by eating vegetation that the infected snails and slugs are living on.

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