Moose monitoring update talk March 28
by Sublette County Library
March 21, 2013
In 2012, Wildlife Biologist Gary Fralick from the Wyoming Game & Fish Department came to the Sublette County Library as part of the Making Tracks program to speak about the Sublette Shiras, one of the largest moose populations in North America. On Thursday, March 28th at 6:30 pm he will return to share data from the 2012 and 2013 Moose Collar Project in the Noble Basin.
Fralick said the most noteworthy observations are:
1. the variation in distances moved from winter to summer ranges between radio-collared moose;
2. body condition is the most significant factor affecting overwinter survival;
3. pregnancy rates are low for a wild ungulate in Wyoming; these pregnancy rates appear to be associated to physical condition.
"My hope is that the audience begins to understand, or appreciate, the importance of good physical condition for moose along the east slope of the Wyoming Range is a function of habitat quality; physical condition affects moose fecundity and survival," said Fralick.
The Wyoming Game & Fish Department and the University of Wyoming’s Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit initiated the moose research project in 2011 to gather information about moose migration, survival and habitat activities in the in the Noble Basin area of the upper Hoback River basin prior to development of a proposed natural gas field. The area is part of the Bridger-Teton National Forest and is located about 30 miles south of Jackson, Wyoming.
For more information visit the Library website: sublettecountylibrary.org or call 307-367-4114.
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