Post by POINTY STICKS on Jan 10, 2009 21:16:18 GMT -4
Deformities threaten moose
Female mainland animals look for healthy racks, not withered tines
By SHERRI BORDEN COLLEY Staff Reporter
Sat. Jan 10 - 11:44 AM
Antler deformities such as these are showing up among the population of mainland moose. (SCOTT McBURNEY)
Antler deformities such as these are showing up among the population of mainland moose. (SCOTT McBURNEY)
A mainland moose at the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park and reserve shows a healthy rack. (Ted Pritchard / Staff)
Whatever is causing severely deformed antlers and early shedding among mainland moose in Nova Scotia could threaten the ability of this endangered species to produce offspring, says a wildlife expert looking into this mystery.
"That can have a major implication for the population," Dr. Scott McBurney, a wildlife pathologist with the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre, Atlantic region, said in an interview Thursday.
"I guess what you want to have (is) an understanding of — knowing that this is a population in decline — how those antler deformities may relate to the ability of that population to reproduce and multiply itself up to normal levels again."
Apparently, with female moose size does matter.
"It’s at the point of life when (bull moose are) most sexually mature and good breeding potential that they grow their best set of antlers and they are an attractant to females," Dr. McBurney said.
"Females look at moose and say — they look at that silhouette and they say, ‘My gosh, that guy’s got a big set of antlers; he must be somebody good to breed with.’ "
A moose antler should be fairly large with a palm shape in the centre and tines (finger-like projections) sticking out from it, he said.
"But what we’re seeing with the moose in Nova Scotia is ranging from . . . very tiny twisted nubs in a mature moose, so, again, they would only be one to two inches high but severely twisted and deformed, to spike-like antlers that would more consistent with what you would see on spike of a goat or something like that — like no tines coming off of them, just single spikes."
Some mainland moose also have antlers that are normal on one side but not on the other.
Moose shed their antlers once a year and grow a new set the following year, and shedding is dictated by hormones. Last November a hunter found the antlers of one fully developed moose that had shed a full month before they should have.
Tony Nette, wildlife resources manager for the Department of Natural Resources, said staffers do not know how frequently these deformities are appearing in the moose population, because they can’t just go out and count them.
Experts began detecting these abnormalities in 2000 but hadn’t examined many animals up to that point.
"Since that time . . . I had five bull moose submitted to me this fall and of the five that were submitted, three had abnormal antlers and they were all from mainland Nova Scotia, which is the endangered population," said Dr. McBurney, who works at the Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island.
The age of the animal, nutrition, hormones, genetics and trauma can all affect antler growth. Copper deficiency is another potential cause Dr. McBurney is looking into.
"With very small isolated populations that we see in Nova Scotia right now, it may be that inbreeding suppression that may be resulting in some of the antler deformities that were seeing as well," Dr. McBurney said.
Mainland moose are located in isolated areas of the Tobeatic Wilderness Area; Cobequid Hills; Pictou, Antigonish and Guysborough counties; and the Chebucto Peninsula.
The mainland moose has been on Nova Scotia’s endangered species list since October 2003. The Department of Natural Resources estimates there are only about 1,000 left.
Last year, the department and the Nova Scotia Mainland Moose Recovery team released a recovery plan to save the moose and enhance the population by 2012.
( sborden@herald.ca)
Female mainland animals look for healthy racks, not withered tines
By SHERRI BORDEN COLLEY Staff Reporter
Sat. Jan 10 - 11:44 AM
Antler deformities such as these are showing up among the population of mainland moose. (SCOTT McBURNEY)
Antler deformities such as these are showing up among the population of mainland moose. (SCOTT McBURNEY)
A mainland moose at the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park and reserve shows a healthy rack. (Ted Pritchard / Staff)
Whatever is causing severely deformed antlers and early shedding among mainland moose in Nova Scotia could threaten the ability of this endangered species to produce offspring, says a wildlife expert looking into this mystery.
"That can have a major implication for the population," Dr. Scott McBurney, a wildlife pathologist with the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre, Atlantic region, said in an interview Thursday.
"I guess what you want to have (is) an understanding of — knowing that this is a population in decline — how those antler deformities may relate to the ability of that population to reproduce and multiply itself up to normal levels again."
Apparently, with female moose size does matter.
"It’s at the point of life when (bull moose are) most sexually mature and good breeding potential that they grow their best set of antlers and they are an attractant to females," Dr. McBurney said.
"Females look at moose and say — they look at that silhouette and they say, ‘My gosh, that guy’s got a big set of antlers; he must be somebody good to breed with.’ "
A moose antler should be fairly large with a palm shape in the centre and tines (finger-like projections) sticking out from it, he said.
"But what we’re seeing with the moose in Nova Scotia is ranging from . . . very tiny twisted nubs in a mature moose, so, again, they would only be one to two inches high but severely twisted and deformed, to spike-like antlers that would more consistent with what you would see on spike of a goat or something like that — like no tines coming off of them, just single spikes."
Some mainland moose also have antlers that are normal on one side but not on the other.
Moose shed their antlers once a year and grow a new set the following year, and shedding is dictated by hormones. Last November a hunter found the antlers of one fully developed moose that had shed a full month before they should have.
Tony Nette, wildlife resources manager for the Department of Natural Resources, said staffers do not know how frequently these deformities are appearing in the moose population, because they can’t just go out and count them.
Experts began detecting these abnormalities in 2000 but hadn’t examined many animals up to that point.
"Since that time . . . I had five bull moose submitted to me this fall and of the five that were submitted, three had abnormal antlers and they were all from mainland Nova Scotia, which is the endangered population," said Dr. McBurney, who works at the Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island.
The age of the animal, nutrition, hormones, genetics and trauma can all affect antler growth. Copper deficiency is another potential cause Dr. McBurney is looking into.
"With very small isolated populations that we see in Nova Scotia right now, it may be that inbreeding suppression that may be resulting in some of the antler deformities that were seeing as well," Dr. McBurney said.
Mainland moose are located in isolated areas of the Tobeatic Wilderness Area; Cobequid Hills; Pictou, Antigonish and Guysborough counties; and the Chebucto Peninsula.
The mainland moose has been on Nova Scotia’s endangered species list since October 2003. The Department of Natural Resources estimates there are only about 1,000 left.
Last year, the department and the Nova Scotia Mainland Moose Recovery team released a recovery plan to save the moose and enhance the population by 2012.
( sborden@herald.ca)