23 February 2017

Anchorage Wants Our Help

According to a story at www.ktuu.com:
 
Bull Moose checks whether weather has delayed delivery! Kathleen Barth - Anchorage 11-16-16
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) -
State wildlife managers want to know how many moose roam the Anchorage bowl and need your help. 
Aerial counts don't always work because of bad weather conditions and some flight restrictions, which is why Fish and Game biologists are testing a new method of surveying moose on the ground, and that's where the public comes in. 
On February 26 and 27, citizens are invited to report moose sightings within the Anchorage bowl. 
Researchers will collect DNA samples from as many moose as they can. A small skin biopsy will be taken with darts designed to lightly strike a moose, collect a sample in the tip, and fall to the ground. 
Sightings may be reported by phoning 267-2253, texting 782-5051, or online at the department website
Reports should include moose location, time of the sighting, and number of moose seen at a given location.
 
 
The numbers usually provided, anecdotally, say the City of Anchorage is home to roughly 800 moose in the summer months. That number increases to some 1,200 in winter, due to scarcity of vegetation in the mountains. Moose then move into town seeking a greater food supply.

6 comments:

Old NFO said...

Soooo... Double or triple counts??? :-)

Rev. Paul said...

It'll be fun sorting out the duplicate report, won't it?

ProudHillbilly said...

I sooooo want to see a moose. Those great gangling bodies and faces so homely they are beautiful...

Rev. Paul said...

They're all over the place, up here. But it would be closer for you to go to Maine. :)

Sandy Livesay said...

Rev. Paul,

Now that's a lot of moose to sedate in order to capture what's needed to do testing. Will they be tagging the moose with numbers?
I can already see this becoming a problem or disaster.

Rev. Paul said...

Sandy, they're not going to capture or sedate the moose. The dart strikes lightly, takes a small skin sample, and falls out. They only collect the darts.