Transcript History of Large Wildlife Mammals in Minnesota

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White-tailed deer
Mule deer
Moose
Elk
Woodland caribou
Bison
Pronghorn antelope
Black bear
Gray wolf
Bobcat
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North America
Most important big game animal
30 subspecies
Exist over entire North American Continent
Expanded northward due to logging and other
activities of immigrants
◦ 1900: 500,000
◦ 2000: 30 million
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Minnesota
◦ Existed primarily in southern Minnesota where food
and cover are available
◦ Deer did not originally live in evergreen forest
◦ Forest lands became attractive after cutover and
regrowth from forest fires
◦ Overpopulation occurred early in 1900’s
 Habitat over browsed
 Consumed entire food source
 15-20 deer per square mile
◦ 1850-1900 deer marketed commercially
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Deer meat sold in markets
St. Paul customers purchased 8-10 cents/pound
1872: 6 tons shipped to Boston from Litchfield
Unlimited harvest
◦ Before 1897, no restrictions and no hunting license
required
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1900: Harvest limit 5, license cost $.25
1901: limit 3
1905: limit 2 and a 21 day season established
1915: limit 1
1920s: bucks only law and alternate year
1933: every year hunting
Today the population is growing
◦ Deer management units established
◦ Present status
 Deer over entire state
 Hunting season is annual
 Approximately 2 million deer exist in Minnesota
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Always present
Live primarily in western United States
Rocky Mountain species most common
No breeding colony currently exist in
Minnesota
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Largest most distinctive mammal
Northern wilderness
A boreal (northern) forest mammal
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Most common big game mammal before
lumberjacks
◦ Food for lumberjacks, early pioneers
◦ Loss of habitat
◦ White tailed deer competition
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By 1885 Minnesota moose population scarce
First protection laws 1887
Current Minnesota population <10,000
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“White Rump”
◦ Wapiti
 American Sioux Indian Name
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Native to Minnesota, very abundant
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Elk disappeared by 1900s
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Fenced pastures
Market hunters
Food source
Canine teeth valued
1932: small Minnesota herd found
Restocking effort
◦ Enclosure of 54 elk (from Jackson Hole, Wyoming)
◦ Superior National Forest (a few released)
◦ Beltrami County herd of 27 (from Itasca State
Park)
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Common in Northern Minnesota
1660-1880 reported as abundant
Require large forested, muskegs (acid soil)
and bog areas
Two species
◦ Tundra reindeer
◦ Woodland caribou
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By 1880s population diminished
◦ Unrestricted hunting
◦ Logging, mining, forest fires
◦ Settlement of land
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Last Minnesota caribou sighted in 1940
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Lasting hunting season was in 1904
Reintroduction of caribou to Minnesota in
1938 failed
Last reintroduction attempt: 1970-1980
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Occupied North America from Appalachians
to the Rocky Mountains
2 species
◦ Plains
◦ Woodland
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Fed and provided the Indians well
75 million existed at one time
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Decline occurred within 30 years
◦ Due to white settler slaughter
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Prairie regions of Minnesota
◦ Supported large herds
 Plains bison
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1850s bison disappeared from eastern
Minnesota
◦ Woodland
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1880 4 animals were found in Twin Valley
Buffalo skulls were used by surveyors plotting
SW Minnesota
◦ Section corners – 4 skulls
◦ Half sections – 1 skull
◦ Readily available – early 1870s
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Original range – western Minnesota
◦ On eastern edge of their range
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Never abundant in Minnesota
Last hunting season – 1892
A native of America
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Inhabited almost all of Minnesota
Migrated north due to settlers
Black bear most common species
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Black bear disappeared from agricultural land
areas
White Bear Lake, MN
Were considered a nuisance
First laws to protect bear in 1917 were soon
repealed
◦ Bounty killing established in 1945
◦ Bounty killing eliminated in 1965
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Tourist attraction
1971: first hunting season established
Separate permit required
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1981: 1500 bear harvested
Bear management units established
Most current census has 15,000 Black bear in
Minnesota
Nuisance problems beginning again
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Primary predator of deer and moose
Influence on population varies greatly
Consume about 15 adult deer per wolf
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Prey on very young, old, weak, sick prey
Continuously hunting
Deer make easy prey in winter
Located primarily in the Superior National
Forest
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Numbers declined from 1849-1965 due to
bounty payments
In 1967, wolves were listed on Minnesota
endangered species list
In 1975, management programs installed by
US Fish and Wildlife Services
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Eastern Timber Wolf Recovery Team
established
Predator control program
10-30 verified livestock losses
Currently over 3000 wolves in Minnesota
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Kill deer, but do not seriously affect
population
Prefer smaller game mammals
Primarily live in northern forested areas
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Fox
Coyote
Raccoon
Others?