Årsrapport GPS-märkta älgar och inventeringar i brandområdet 2023-2024: fördelning, reproduktion, livsmiljö, bärris och spillning

The first year of the second phase of the project is over. The study area in municipality of Ljusdal has two special features that directly affect moose and make it different from other study areas: the fire area around Kårböle and a high density of brown bears. As in other study areas, moose in the study area in Ljusdal are also individuals, with some moose having completely separate summer and winter ranges, others having partially overlapping ranges, and a few appearing to have almost completely overlapping ranges. Of the 38 moose that we could track during the period March 2023-2024, 32 % were stationary (i.e. moose moving only a short distance between their winter and summer ranges, or not at all). Sixty-three percent of the GPS-marked moose were migratory where different individuals varied in the distance they migrated between seasons. The majority stayed within 15-25 km of their winter range, but we were also able to document the migration routes of some real long-distance migrants! Migratory and stationary moose include both females and males. On average, male moose had annual home ranges that were twice as large as those of female moose. For both gender, summer ranges were on average 3-4 times larger than winter ranges. Of the 38 moose that we were able to track for most of the year, we could locate 24 moose within the fire area, while 14 moose never set foot in the area. Most moose used the fire area between May and the end of October/November. Six of the 27 calving females gave birth in the fire area or in its proximity. A total of 44 calves were born in the study area of the GPS-marked female moose, of which 58% were twin calves. We were also able to document a triplet calving, which was particularly exciting. During the calving season, we closely monitor the movements of the GPS-marked females and conduct field checks to record not only the number of calves born, but also to document predation on calves. In the summer of 2023, we estimated the calf survival from birth to the start of the hunt to be between 32% and 43% (14/44 and 19/44, respectively), of which we were unable to observe calves of five cows during the autumn re-check. Overall, the survival of calves during the summer was higher in 2023 than in previous summers in the study area. As in previous years, young forest and pine forest were the most important and most used habitats. The regrowth of blueberry, cranberry and heather varied within the fire area and pellet counts indicated difference in the distribution of moose, red deer and grouse within the fire area.An important reason why the study area in Ljusdal works so well is the close cooperation with all interested parties, as well as our close collaboration with both the Scandinavian Brown Bear Project and the Scandinavian Wolf Project Skandulv. There is a lot of public interest, and the website www.slu.se/alg-forskning has many different users. The authors are solely responsible for the content of the report.