Recently however, the wolves’ main mode of travel to Isle Royale has become limited. Isle Royale’s wolves have long kept the moose population in check by reducing the likelihood of overgrazing and future food scarcity. He recently filmed Wolves of Isle Royale: The Quest for Survival, a 2021 National Geographic Society-funded documentary. “On this island, an increase of a few degrees in air temperature has had monumental effects,” says Slade Kemmet, a National Geographic Explorer studying the effects of climate change on national parks. Unauthorized use is prohibited.Īs part of this moose-bone study, researchers also discovered that today’s environmental conditions could impact the prevalence of arthritis in moose 10 years into the future-a fact that has some researchers worried. This groundbreaking discovery inspired scientists to reevaluate the causes of arthritis in humans, too. Bone analysis has helped researchers pinpoint a likely cause: malnutrition due to severe winters and food competition. Take arthritis, a common ailment among Isle Royale moose.
These skeletons have led to key findings about both moose and human health. “After the moose have died, we reconstruct the population using bones of moose we find on the ground,” says Peterson. With incisors alone, researchers can determine the age and health of a moose. Volunteers collect moose skulls, jawbones, metatarsus, and any other bones that show signs of arthritis. Without volunteer scientists, who collect most of the bones, a study of this scope would be near impossible, says Rolf Peterson, a researcher with Michigan Technological University who’s been working on the study for decades. As the climate-change crisis continues, conducting this research is becoming increasingly more necessary to protect the island. Bones, the foundation of the wolf-moose research, have unlocked monumental discoveries about Isle Royale’s ecology and even insights into human health. Moosewatch Expeditions is one of the most immersive ways for travelers to participate in the world-renowned study. Since 1958, researchers have used this 45-mile-long, far-flung island as a living laboratory to study the relationship between the island’s most famous inhabitants: wolves and moose. Their reward is contributing to the longest-running predator-prey study in the world.
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