Moose Welfare and Winter Tick Infestations

Warming winters are allowing winter tick populations to explode, causing catastrophic infestations in moose that can kill calves and severely weaken adult animals.

Key Facts

A single moose can carry over 100,000 winter ticks in severe infestation years
Moose with heavy tick loads scratch off most of their fur, earning the name ghost moose
Tick-related calf mortality has reached 70% in some New England populations
Adult moose lose up to 50 kilograms of blood to ticks over a winter season
Climate change is extending the period when ticks can attach to moose before first snowfall

Welfare Considerations

Winter tick infestations cause extreme suffering. Moose experience intense pruritus, leading to obsessive scratching that removes protective fur. Without fur, animals suffer hypothermia. Blood loss causes anemia, weakness, and impaired foraging capacity. Calves, particularly vulnerable, may die from the combined effects of hypothermia and anemia within weeks. This is an emerging welfare crisis driven directly by anthropogenic climate change extending tick survival seasons.

What You Can Do

Support climate action to reduce warming that extends tick seasons
Back wildlife management research into tick monitoring and moose population support
Donate to organizations studying wildlife disease ecology in changing climates
Reduce personal carbon footprint to help limit climate-driven wildlife suffering