Moose across North America and northern Europe face mounting welfare challenges from climate change, brain worm parasitism, tick burdens, and habitat change that compound each other.
Wild moose are experiencing some of the most dramatic welfare impacts of climate change among North American mammals. Winter tick infestations, historically controlled by cold winters that killed larvae before they could survive on hosts, are now reaching catastrophic levels as milder winters allow more ticks to complete their lifecycle. An individual moose may carry tens of thousands of ticks, losing so much blood and grooming energy that they die of anaemia and exposure — a slow, debilitating death. The combination of tick burden, brain worm risk from expanding deer populations, and heat stress creates a welfare crisis for individual moose across large parts of their range. Long-term solutions require addressing climate change while managing deer-moose cohabitation in affected areas.