Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Wyoming
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Moose in the Bighorn Mountains are not native to the area. They populated the Bighorns from translocated moose from Jackson, WY in the mid 1900s. To evaluate moose demography and habitat use, 74 GPS collars were deployed by helicopter and ground darting on adult female moose from March of 2017 to August of 2019 with six mortalities to date. The demographic data collected will aid in estimating population dynamics of the herd. The spatial data will be used to develop a resource selection function to identify preferred moose habitat. This study in being conducted in collaboration with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to advance the managment of this unique moose herd. An integrated population model will be developed to estimate population trends, including demographic data from other Wyoming moose herds. Overall this study will advance our understanding of how moose can endure in varying habitats across Wyoming with different movement strategies.