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Michigan Collars 41 More Moose to Investigate Slow Population Growth

Bull moose standing in a beaver pond
Conservation · Population & status

Researchers fitted GPS collars to 41 wild moose (Alces alces) in Michigan, USA’s western Upper Peninsula during winter 2026, more than doubling the number of animals enrolled in a long-term study of the state’s slow-growing herd. The new group included 20 adult females, 10 adult males and 11 calves.

Northern Michigan University reported completion of the operation on 10 April 2026. The first capture effort in 2025 had deployed 15 collars; adding 41 animals in 2026 increased the tracked sample to 56.

The project is testing what lies behind slow population growth

Moose were reintroduced to the western Upper Peninsula in the mid-1980s, but the herd has grown much more slowly than managers originally expected. A 2025 aerial survey estimated about 300 moose in the core range across Marquette, Baraga and Iron counties, compared with 426 in 2023 — roughly 30% fewer in the newer estimate.

Those aerial figures are estimates rather than complete counts. One aim of the collar study is to distinguish deaths and reproduction from movements into or out of the established survey area, which can otherwise make changes in aerial detections difficult to interpret.

The larger collar sample links movement with survival and health

The GPS collars provide detailed information on how moose use the landscape and contribute to survival and movement analyses. Researchers also collected biological samples for disease surveillance, checked animals for ticks and gathered faecal pellets to study diet. Together, these data are intended to help separate the roles of health, reproduction, mortality, habitat use and movement in the herd’s slow growth.

The April update reports fieldwork, not a cause

The project is examining several possible limits on population growth, including mortality, reproduction, health, parasites, habitat and emigration. The 10 April update does not identify which factor is responsible for the herd’s slow growth. Its new result is the expanded tracked sample that will allow those alternatives to be tested over the coming years.

Sources and image credit

  1. Witte, M. (2026, April 10). Moose Research Team Completes Winter Collaring Effort. Northern Michigan University.Primary dated project update. Reports 41 newly collared wild moose in winter 2026 (20 adult females, 10 adult males and 11 calves), 56 collars deployed across the first two field seasons, and the 2025 aerial population estimate used as context.

Image: Walter Ezell / Wikimedia Commons — moose (Alces alces) in a beaver pond in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA, 24 June 2010. Illustrative photograph, not one of the collared moose in the Michigan study. CC BY 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ · CC BY 3.0 · Source

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