By

 Yereth Rosen, Alaska Beacon https://www.alaskapublic.org/2022/06/07/moose-population-boom-linked-to-climate-change-inspires-some-hunting-changes/

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June 7, 2022

In southwestern Alaska, where there is a mix of tundra, mountains, forests and river-crossed terrain, there has been a rapid transformation in the wildlife.

In the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge specifically, the moose population has increased a whopping 400-fold since the early 1990s, from just a handful a few decades ago to about 2,000 animals now.

The reason appears clear: climate change. Milder winters and the proliferation of vegetation correlate directly with the moose population boom, according toongoing researchby SebastianZavoico, a graduate student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The strongest part of the trend seems to be in river-crossed areas on…