![A bull moose grazes on water lilies in the canoe country north of Ely, Minn., in 2011. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is proposing to list the state's iconic moose as a "species of concern," the lowest initial designation on a list of animals and plants seen as at risk of disappearing from the state AP Photo/The Duluth News-Tribune](http://brainerddispatch.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/superphoto/Endangered%20Species%20Mo_Newm.jpg "A bull moose grazes on water lilies in the canoe country north of Ely, Minn., in 2011. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is proposing to list the state's iconic moose as a "species of concern," the lowest initial designation on a list of animals and plants seen as at risk of disappearing from the state AP Photo/The Duluth News-Tribune")
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources is launching a moose research project in northeastern Minnesota to determine why the state's population of the animal is declining.
DNR officials will hold a St. Paul news conference Friday to unveil what they're calling a first-of-its-kind project. They'll employ GPS and other technology to help track the animals.
As of last March, Minnesota's moose population was estimated at 4,230 — a 14 percent decline from the previous year's estimate, and less than half what it was in 2006. Wildlife managers have said reasons could include parasites, diseases and warmer weather.
They have said hunting is not to blame, and the DNR allowed a short moose hunting season last fall. The agency has not yet revealed if it will allow a moose hunt this year.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
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I'm sure they will come up with Wolves and Bear preying on Moose young as a major reason, although not the only one. Disease always will play into it.