According to Saint Cloud Times reporter Glenn Schmitt, MN DNR aerial survey results last month indicate a 35 percent drop in the northeast Minnesota moose population from the previous year and a 52 percent decline from 2010. The current estimate of the moose population is 2,760 animals down from 4,320 animals in 2012. Although DNR officials believe sport and subsistence hunting are not the causes of the decline, sport hunting has been suspended for 2013. Sport hunters killed 46 bull moose in 2012. Three first nation bands that have treaty rights to harvest moose in the Arrowhead are considering what actions to take. The band councils are very concerned about the health of the moose herd in Minnesota. In 2012, aboriginals killed 31 bull moose and five cow moose. Although the moose is often represented as the iconic mammal of Minnesota, the Saint Cloud Times
article has a brief synopsis of the ebb and flow of moose populations and moose hunting in Minnesota.