Study links moose calving habitat to fire and forestry timing

A new study in Animals tracked 89 female moose in northern Quebec’s Eeyou Istchee from 2018 to 2022 and found that calving behavior shifts sharply during the week after birth, with cows using smaller areas and showing distinct site selection compared with late winter and summer. The work, led by Mikaela Borgeaud LeBlanc, Manuelle Landry-Cuerrier, and Vincent Brodeur, focuses on how moose choose calving sites in landscapes shaped by forestry and wildfire. Additional background from the related McGill thesis indicates females avoided areas disturbed by fire or forestry within the previous year, while some used habitats 10 to 15 years after fire, suggesting the timing of disturbance matters as much as the disturbance itself. (escholarship.mcgill.ca)

Why it matters: For veterinary and wildlife health professionals, the study adds evidence that periparturient habitat conditions can influence maternal behavior during a vulnerable window for calf survival. In Eeyou Istchee, forestry policy already includes an adapted management regime intended to account for Cree land use and wildlife habitat, and local knowledge has emphasized that spring calving areas are often swampy or riparian and that roads, noise, and access linked to forestry can reduce habitat quality. That makes this paper useful not just for wildlife ecologists, but also for veterinarians involved in population health, conservation medicine, Indigenous partnership work, and surveillance planning in disturbed boreal systems. (cngov.ca)

What to watch: Watch for this work to be translated into more specific forestry buffers, road-access limits, or moose habitat guidance tied to the calving season in northern Quebec. (cngov.ca)