NE Minnesota Moose Population Remains Low But Stable

Results of the 2019 moose survey indicate northeastern Minnesota’s moose population remains stable but relatively low for the eighth year in a row.

According to the Department of Natural Resources, survey results estimate northeastern Minnesota’s moose population at 4,180, statistically unchanged from the 2018 estimate of 3,030. The last significant population decline occurred between 2009 and 2012. Since then, the number of moose in northeastern Minnesota has been statistically stable.

Since the DNR began its modern moose surveys in 2005, northeastern Minnesota’s moose population was at its highest in 2006, when survey results estimated 8,840 animals. Each subsequent year’s survey estimate is compared to 2006’s peak estimate to calculate the population decline.

This year’s population estimate is 53 percent lower than 2006, an improvement from 2018 when the estimate was 65 percent lower.

“We’re encouraged that the moose population is not in the steep decline it was,” said Glenn DelGiudice, DNR moose and deer project leader. “In the short to medium term, we’re likely to keep seeing moose in the forests, lakes and swamps of northeastern Minnesota. But their long-term survival here in Minnesota remains uncertain.”