Ticks put moose at risk

Moose have endured disease and predators, but another threat may be putting their populations more at risk than ever before, according to an essay in the digital magazine Aeon.

“In Minnesota, the number of moose dropped by 58 per cent in the decade through to 2015, similar to losses in New England,” wrote investigative journalist Mary Beth Pfeiffer. “Environmentalists believe moose could well be eradicated in the Midwest by 2020, with stocks declining precipitously in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan.”

The rising threat, Pfeiffer wrote, is ticks, thriving in a changing climate.

Read the entire article in Aeon.