Moose are cold-adapted animals suffering welfare impacts from warming temperatures, increased parasite burdens, and changing vegetation in boreal and subarctic ecosystems.
Moose welfare from climate change operates through multiple simultaneous pressures. Winter tick infestations cause chronic blood loss and skin damage throughout winter and spring — calves with extreme infestations may die before summer. Heat stress during warm weather prevents adequate foraging, reducing body condition through summer when animals should be building fat reserves for winter. Brain worm causes progressive neurological deterioration. Each of these affects real individual moose experiencing suffering that is causally linked to climate change. Protecting moose welfare requires both climate mitigation and adaptive management that reduces secondary pressures like hunting in declining populations.