A sickly bull moose whose lingering presence prompted the closing of a popular Adirondack Mountain trail for two months was euthanized on Wednesday after New York conservation officials confirmed a sharp decline in the animal’s health.
The decision to humanely end the moose’s life came after wildlife biologists with the Department of Environmental Conservation and the state wildlife veterinarian visited the area near the Goodman Mountain summit where the moose had been a fixture since May.
During the visit, the environmental conservation team observed “advanced signs of disease, including severe emaciation,” the department said in a news release on Thursday.
Jacqueline Lendrum, the director of the agency’s fish and wildlife division, said in a statement that the moose’s “deteriorating condition” had given it “a low likelihood of survival.”
The agency’s priority “is always the well-being of wildlife and public safety,” she said. “Humane euthanasia is sometimes the most responsible course of action.”
The moose was first spotted in May near the summit of Goodman Mountain, in Horseshoe Lake Wild Forest west of Lake Placid, by hikers who reported that it was letting them come close.
After assessing the moose’s condition and potential risks it might present to the public, and after efforts to shoo it away failed, the mile-and-a-half-long trail was closed temporarily to protect the animal and people alike, officials said.
The closure was extended on July 11 after a site visit by environmental conservation staff members, who determined that “an underlying illness” was the most likely explanation for the moose’s behavior, according to a news release at the time. In addition to visiting the area, staff members monitored the animal via trail cameras.
Moose are the largest members of the deer family and are among the largest land mammals in North America. The male, or bull, typically stands six feet tall at the shoulder, weighs up to 1,400 pounds and lives seven years on average. Moose are primarily browsers, meaning they feed on the leaves, twigs and buds of hardwood and softwood trees and shrubs.
The animals are found across the northern part of North America, and down into the Rocky Mountains, northern Great Lakes and the Northeast. Their typical home range is an area of five to 50 square miles.
Moose were once common in New York but disappeared in the 1860s primarily because of “habitat changes and unregulated hunting,” according to an environmental conservation department fact sheet. They began to return around 1980, drawn by habitat changes that made conditions more favorable.
Last fall, a state wildlife biologist said surveys showed there were about 716 moose in the Adirondack region, The Adirondack Explorer website reported. (By comparison, there are about 2,000 in Vermont and as many as 70,000 in Maine.)
Car crashes are the leading cause of death for moose in New York, according to environmental conservation officials. The second leading cause, the agency said, is parasites like brain worm and giant liver fluke, a flatworm that can cause liver failure in moose.
A necropsy will be performed on the Goodman Mountain moose to help determine the possible cause of its “failed health and unusual behavior” and to provide information about threats to moose health in New York more broadly, the department said in its release.
The Goodman Mountain trail will remain closed for the time being while environmental conservation staff members study the area for evidence of the moose’s foraging behavior and habitat range, the department said. Once the work is complete, the trail will be reopened to the public.
Goodman Mountain, which draws thousands of visitors a year, is named for Andrew Goodman, who, with fellow civil rights activists James Chaney and Michael Schwerner, was killed by Ku Klux Klan members in Mississippi in 1964. Growing up, Mr. Goodman, a Manhattan native, spent summers in the Tupper Lake area at a camp built by his grandfather.
Ed Shanahan is a rewrite reporter and editor covering breaking news and general assignments on the Metro desk.
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