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Climate change in recent years has been fatal for moose populations in the northeastern United States. The longer fall seasons and warmer winters have made winter tick populations thrive at the expense of their majestic hosts. Experts, alarmed by the devastating moose shriek of New England, warn "we are sitting on a barrel of powder", calf survival has fallen to 30%, while burned adults are barely recognizable – are now called "ghost moose".
The recent plague and its scary physical effects have been studied by scientists at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) who published a report on the results of this study in the Canadian Journal of Zoology. Professor Pete Pekins, specialist in wildlife ecology at the UNH and co-author of the study, explained the importance of this "barrel of powder" by stating: "L & # 39; emblematic moose is becoming the new child-star of climate change in some areas of the Northeast. "
Related: Video footage of a moose all white in Sweden
Researchers monitored tick infestations, which were prevalent in northern New Hampshire and western Maine during three winters. Between 2014 and 2016, 179 radiolabeled moose calves were screened for parasites and monitored to account for changing physical conditions. Of these, a total of 125 had died by the end of the third winter.
"Normally anything that exceeds a 50% mortality rate would affect us, but at 70% we are facing a real problem in the moose population," said Pekins.
Although adult populations do not face the same number of shipwrecks, winters survivors are severely maimed, uncoated and devitalized. "Most adult moose survived but were still severely compromised. They were skinny and anemic to have lost so much blood, "reported the university. "Ticks seem to harm reproductive health, so there is also less reproduction."
Since winter tick epidemics typically last only one to two years, researchers attribute climate change to pest outbreaks, which have persisted over the last five years. "The changing environmental conditions associated with climate change are increasing and are favorable for winter ticks, especially the later winters that prolong the fall quest period for ticks," said Pekins.
But how warm are these warm periods for questing? An average of 47,371 ticks were found on each calf exterminated. Calves perished from extreme metabolic imbalances and wasting caused by blood loss.
This shave is more suited to a vampire novel than to a natural symbiosis; the images are better attributed to a trip to Chernobyl than to the forests of New England and Acadia. Many might call the "moose ghost" a haunting reminder of climate change-related disasters, but they still live. They are not really victims, they are innocents disfigured in the margins of an ongoing environmental war.
+ University of New Hampshire
Via TreeHugger
Image via Dan Bergeron, N.H. Department of Fisheries and Hunting
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