Solutions

Manitoba’s moose are not acknowledged as threatened under the law. There is also some debate as to the seriousness of the problem, particularly given the lack of reliable population data.

The limited data available to us shows significant declines of as much as 57 percent in some areas.

Reliable population data is critical for measuring the effectiveness of a moose management plan (by comparing to a baseline) and ensuring it can be adapted to regional realities.

The province’s current population estimate of 27,000 moose is considered to be significantly inflated. The Manitoba chapter of The Wildlife Society estimated in 2015 that the population dropped below 20,000 moose and strongly requested “new and bold management approaches” in 2017 amid signs of “alarmingly low” and “collapsed” populations in some areas. Nobody really knows for sure.

Aerial surveys conducted since 2015 only assessed a fraction of the province (Manitoba has more than 60 hunting areas: moose were assessed in seven areas in 2017, three areas in 2018 and 2015 and just two areas in 2016.)

There currently is no way for wildlife managers to access reliable harvest data.

Provincial tracking is limited to a paper questionnaire mailed to licensed moose hunters. Some Indigenous governments track moose harvests among rights-holders. Without data from all hunters, moose populations cannot be effectively managed.

Moose are thriving in some parts of Manitoba, and at a point of serious concern and even collapse in others. Over-harvesting is a prime factor in some areas, while habitat loss is a problem in others.

Moose are a concern to a broad mix of rights-holders and stakeholders across the province, each with unique priorities, concerns and rights. While most Manitobans believe it’s important to maintain a sustainable moose population, efforts to address the problem have been controversial.

The hunting rights of Metis, First Nations and Inuit people are often not fully understood, nor are the efforts of Indigenous governments to sustainably manage hunting in their territories (see, for instance, the Metis Laws of the Harvest.)

Provincial efforts to ban hunting in some areas have been criticized as a top-down process which failed to adequately communicate the need for a ban or to consult with local knowledge holders.

Poaching is a problem under any circumstances. When populations reach critical lows, the loss of even a single moose cow can be devastating.

Manitoba stepped up poaching patrols in 2017 after a significant increase in illegal hunting. Night hunting has also become an increasing concern after a man was killed while hunting near Brandon in 2016 and a teenager checking traps was shot in the face by a night hunter near Pulp River in 2017.

Habitat loss and disturbances have a dramatic impact on moose populations. Moose require a diverse habitat to thrive: they forage in wetlands, bogs and young forests and they seek shelter in mature forests.

Large-scale commercial activities such as mining, forestry and farming can have a dramatic impact on a region’s carrying capacity (the number of moose which can thrive based on the quality of the habitat). Roads and hydro lines have a lesser impact on carrying capacity, but they can have a dramatic impact on mortality by drawing hunters, predators and parasite-carrying deer into moose territory.

Roads have a clear impact on moose mortality. Hunters and predators gain access to once-remote areas. Deer also use roads to move into moose territory, carrying the deadly parasite brain worm and drawing more predators to the area.

Yet people need roads—especially in isolated remote and rural communities. Decommissioning or removing roads can also be quite costly.