GRAND PORTAGE, Minn. – The plunging Minnesota moose population may be due to a brain worm. Research by the University of Minnesota and the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa say the worm is a parasite that moose consume with vegetation that hosts snails and slugs. The state had 9,000 moose in 2006, now 4,700. Seth Moore, director of natural resources for the Grand Portage Band, called the evidence, gathered from genetic evaluation of moose droppings, is conclusive. What to do? Moore said ways need to be found to manage the population of the culprit snails and slugs. New molecular techniques may help control lesser known pieces of the transmission cycle like the slug or snail, he said. This, Moore said, is now the parasite works: After being ingested, the parasite attacks the moose nervous system. The animals loose their appetite and either starve to death or, malnourished, become susceptible to wolves and other predators.
Moose. The Minnesota herd now half what it was in 2006.