An episode of popular PBS show “Nature” premiering Wednesday, Feb. 10 will focus on problems facing moose in North America. It focuses on the difficulty of moose calves in living to adulthood, a feat which only about 30 percent of calves accomplish.
While Moose: Life of a Twig Eater features photographer Hugo Kitching’s year-long project of filing a mother moose and her calf in the Canadian Rockies, it also includes a visit to Grand Portage, MN to learn about ongoing studies of why Minnesota’s moose are disappearing.
“Biologists are seen capturing calves just long enough to weigh them and collect samples of their blood and hair, and to place collars on them in order to track and study their movements,” the episode’s description reads. “So far, their research points to health-related issues, such as brainworm and winter ticks, as additional causes for the decreasing moose population, not only in Minnesota, but across the entire North American continent.”
Moose: Life of a Twig Eater airs Wednesday, February 10, 2016 at 7 p.m. (CT) on PBS. After the broadcast, the episode will be available for online streaming at pbs.org/nature.
In related coverage, the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s environment reporter Josephine Marcotty published an in-depth story about moose mortality research this past Sunday. Read it here.