Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks started gathering information last week as part of a study to determine whether the moose population in western Montana is on the decline. 

Jesse Newby, the resident moose expert at state Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP), said there is reason to believe the moose population has dwindled in the western portion of the state. 

“Hunter tags are down, but so is hunter success rate” Newby said. “It seems like if one were down, the other would be up.”

State wildlife officials captured 36 moose from three areas in western Montana, including 12 from the Cabinet Mountains, 12 from the Rocky Mountain Front near Browning and 12 from Big Hole Basin near the Idaho border. Each moose was tagged and released, and officials will be monitoring their movements and checking their progress.

Newby said there were five reasons the moose population might be down: human causes, changes in diet, parasites, predators and environmental changes. 

Newby said all five factors probably contributed to any decline. Although nothing is certain, he said. 

“We’re not confident the numbers are going down,” he said. “We’re trying to develop an inexpensive but effective monitoring system.” 

The study will focus on cows, as they are the key to reclaiming moose populations.

Wildlife officials will check on the moose once a month until May when mating season begins. The checks will become more frequent at that point so officials can confirm numbers of new calves.