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Adirondack Moose - AROMA
AROMA - Adirondack Return of Moose Assessment
Sniffing Out Adirondack Moose
May, 2008 -- The Wildlife Conservation Society has brought representatives of the Working Dogs for Conservation Foundation from Montana to the Adirondacks to assist in the AROMA project. Using specially trained dogs Wicket and Camas, handlers Alice Whitelaw and Aimee Hurt are spending two weeks in the field detecting moose scat and providing information to help us better understand the Adirondack moose population.
 In addition to learning about Adirondack moose through this work, the project is creating new opportunities for public education and outreach. The Wild Center is developing an exhibit on Adirondack moose that will feature this field work, and is also helping to fund this project. The Wildlife Conservation Society is pleased to partner with the Wild Center on this project.
“Our goals for this work are to test a relatively new, noninvasive study technique in this landscape, and to gather some fundamental information about the Adirondack moose population in the process,” says Wildlife Conservation Society ecologist Michale Glennon. “Although moose are an iconic species and have made a remarkable comeback here over the last few decades, the scientific community still does not have a great handle on some very basic questions for this species.”
One of the original residents of the Adirondack region, moose were extirpated from the area and absent from the late 1860s until about 1980, when sightings of the animal began to appear in the Adirondacks again as part of a natural reintroduction process. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) systematically solicited and logged moose sightings from 1980 until 1999, when they became so frequent it was determined that a declining number of observers were reporting them. The DEC believes that the moose population is now large enough to be secure and firmly established, and estimates its number at 300 or more individuals. The exact size, distribution, and genetic diversity of the Adirondack moose population are not known.
As the moose population in the Adirondacks grows, it raises questions, concerns and opportunities ranging from an increased potential for car collisions to the possibility of a moose hunt. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has been fostering communication among regional scientists and stakeholders to understand and prepare for these types of potential consequences. WCS has partnered with DEC on a survey of hunters to learn about moose sightings, and has appealed to the public for reports of moose sightings on our website. Still, a comprehensive survey method is necessary for the long term management of moose in this region.
“We’re thrilled to have Working Dogs for Conservation here to help us learn about the recovery of the moose population in the Adirondacks after its long hiatus,” says Wildlife Conservation Society scientist Heidi Kretser. “We are excited about how much we may be able to learn without engaging in invasive survey techniques.”
During this period of intensive field work, the teams of handlers and dogs will be traversing a total of 20 transects on public and private lands in the northern and central Adirondacks. This year’s work represents a pilot project to test this technique and gather initial information. The scat located in the project is being preserved for potential further scientific analysis, depending on future funding availability. Analysis of diet and genetics are both possible using the scat samples.
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