Moose mystery confounds wildlife officers
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 | 11:09 AM NT
CBC News
Wildlife officials need more data to determine what's killing moose on the Northern Peninsula. (CBC)Officials are appealing for help from people on Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula to help pinpoint a mysterious illness that is killing moose.
Parsons Pond resident Earl Keough, an avid woodsman, said formerly healthy moose have wasted away by an illness that appears to hit their digestive tracts.
"[A] few months ago, there was a very large bull that [got sick] up there by the side of the pond and died with this disease — whatever the disease is," said Keough.
"The moose got the diarrhea, and they just eat and eat, and they starve to death. They literally die on their hoofs. They become skeletons."
Keough, who has seen six moose with similar symptoms, said he wants to know whether the illness that has been striking moose over the last year can affect humans.
Ken Curnew, a habitat management expert in the provincial Department of Environment and Conservation, said there is no evidence that people are in any danger.
However, he said, wildlife officers need help to figure out what is happening with moose in the area.
"If anybody reports this to the conservation officers, they will get in touch with the veterinarians," he said.
"The veterinarians actually need to be on site when the animal is dispatched [so] that they can collect the samples and try to make a diagnosis as to what the problem is."
Curnew said the more people who phone in with the exact locations of sick moose, the sooner they can solve the mystery.
