Study Exonerates Wolves in Decline of Moose

Malnutrition and starvation, not wolves, are the cause of a drastically reduced moose population in northwest Wyoming, according to the author of a new study. “I know people don’t want to believe this ... but moose are not in the diets of wolves,” said Joel Berger, a scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Berger’s study showed about 14% to 18% of adult Jackson moose deaths were due to grizzly bears and less than 2% due to wolves. Car collisions accounted for 8% percent of the total, and malnutrition accounted for 60%.