Researchers To Collar 52 Adult Moose in Northeast Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Researchers plan to collar 52 adult moose in northeastern Minnesota starting this week in the second year of a high-tech study to determine why the iconic species is disappearing from the state.

The radio collars use GPS to transmit alerts when a moose dies. Biologists then try to rush to the carcass within 24 hours before it decomposes or scavengers destroy the evidence.

Michelle Carstensen of the Minnesota DNR says the idea is to replace the 22 adult moose among the 107 in the study that died over the past year. She says DNR biologists plan to start collaring 36 moose across northeastern Minnesota on Thursday, while researchers for the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa began collaring the first of 16 moose on the reservation for their own study Monday.