SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL OCCURRENCES OF PRAIRIE MOOSE ACROSS AN URBAN TO RURAL GRADIENT IN SASKATOON, CANADA

Abstract

The geographic range and abundance of North American moose (Alces alces) has varied over recent decades, with contractions in areas, recolonization of historical habitats and dispersals into new areas and, notably, increased moose sightings near developed, urban areas. The City of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is located in semi-arid, open prairies and surrounded by high-intensity agriculture. Despite being atypical moose habitat, Saskatoon has experienced an increased frequency of moose observations at the urban-rural interface over the last several decades. We characterized spatial and temporal patterns in moose detections over the course of three study years (September 2020–September 2023) using data from 29 trail cameras distributed along an urban to rural gradient within the city boundary of Saskatoon. We quantified moose detections (n = 60) from photos (n = 249) collected at 12 of the camera trap sites. We detected moose each year of the study (8, 23, and 29 detections in years 1, 2, and 3, respectively). Moose detections were highest overall in July (n = 15) and at rural sites adjacent to the city (n = 47). Using generalized linear modeling, we found that moose were negatively associated with urban sites containing higher proportions of development (>50% impervious surface cover), and that detections occurred most frequently at night when darkness provided hiding cover and human activity was lowest. We provide suggestions and recommendations for future urban moose research and management.