Why are Canadian moose declining? Interviews with Indigenous communities offer new clues

As one of the most iconic creatures in their ecosystems, moose have lumbered their way into the fabric of Canadian culture in Ontario. Recreational hunting, Indigenous well-being and the region’s ecosystem health all depend on these antlered giants. But in the last two decades, their population has declined by 20 percent.

Now, a new collaboration between researchers from the University of Guelph, Ontario, and three Anishinabek First Nation communities has revealed numerous reasons why the numbers of moose (Alces alces) are dropping. The impact of climate change on their environment appears to be the main factor, but several other potential causes emerged from the Indigenous perspectives provided to researchers in interviews. The team described its work recently in the journal People and Nature.

“It’s being seen by both knowledge systems,” said study coauthor Steven Kell, head biologist for Shawanaga First Nation in Nobel, Ontario. “[Moose decline] is going to have a negative effect not only ecologically, but also culturally and on the health and well-being of First Nation people.”

In Ontario, moose—the second-largest land animal in North America—support several predators in the ecological food chain and provide food security to Indigenous residents. The people of Shawanaga use every part of the animal in daily practices and cultural traditions. Even the dew claws of hooves become part of their cultural regalia as chimes during ceremonial dancing. The mammals also increase the biodiversity of wetlands by moving seeds and redistributing resources into the environment when they die, Kell noted.

Though the researchers suspected climate change might be a factor in declining moose populations, understanding exactly how is more complicated. Using two worldviews offers different perspectives on the same subject, Kell said: First Nations tribal members interpret ecology through generations of observations, while contemporary scientists rely on controls and detailed measurements in the field.

To draw from both schools of thought, the research team applied a “two-eyed seeing” approach. They interviewed 66 members of the Biigtigong Nishnaabeg, Magnetawan, and Shawanaga First Nations in Ontario, and they reviewed 52 Western scientific papers about moose ecology in the region. Then, they wove together the differences and similarities.

Both traditional ecological knowledge and Western scientific studies agree that climate change, diseases and parasites are the key drivers of the dwindling moose populations. But interviews with Indigenous hunters and elders also revealed hunting pressures, barriers and risks posed by highways, and a new green warty skin disease as potential issues.

The Indigenous observations often emphasized smaller-scale changes, the team noted: displacement of moose by encroaching local populations of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus); declining use of the area’s wetlands; and shorter mating seasons as temperatures warm.

“Typically when you get a bull in the fall and it’s [ ready to mate], it stinks. But the bulls didn’t stink yet,” said Donald Michano of the Biigtigong Nishnaabeg First Nation in an interview from the study. Charles Blacksky noted these more localized changes in the Shawanaga First Nation: “One winter, we didn’t see [any] calves …just…the two-year-olds or whatever… No small ones.”

This cultural information showcased aspects of moose decline that one type of science could not uncover alone, said Tyler Jessen, a doctoral candidate in applied conservation science at the University of Victoria, British Columbia. “Overall, it’s a great example of how two different knowledge systems can come together to provide a greater understanding of a particular topic,” said Jessen, who was not involved in the study.

The study could have included other details for a fuller picture of challenges faced by the region’s moose, said postdoctoral researcher Andrew Kadykalo of the McGill University Department of Natural Resource Sciences in Montreal, Quebec. The scientific literature review only used Google Scholar to find academic papers, leaving out perspectives from places such as government agencies that publish wildlife management reports, he noted. “That’s a great piece of literature that could be captured,” Kadykalo said. “I thought it was a great start, but I feel like this method could be built upon.”

Still, Kadykalo said, conservation and wildlife management groups now have more nuanced information provided by both types of science about the challenges faced by moose in the region: “The next question is, are there any innovative or potential solutions to mitigate these impacts?”

Citation:

Priadka, P., Moses, B., Kozmik, C., Kell, S., and Popp, J.N., “Weaving Indigenous and Western Knowledge Systems to Discern Drivers of Mooz (Moose) Population Decline.” People and Nature, 6: 1812-1821 (2024). doi:10.1002/pan3.10706

This article by Carly Kay was first published by Mongabay.com on 4 December 2024. Lead Image: Moose (Alces alces) populations in Ontario, Canada, have declined by 20 percent in the last two decades. Photo credit: Richard Lee on Unsplash.

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