Euthanized yearling moose to undergo necropsy
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By Josh O' Gorman Rutland Herald - Published: February 21, 2008
WATERBURY- A moose that was euthanized by state Department of Fish and Wildlife officials on Tuesday will undergo a complete necropsy to learn what caused him to collapse and stop eating.
Late Tuesday afternoon a warden with Fish and Wildlife euthanized a yearling moose, known to locals as Rocky, which had taken up residency in a small apple orchard on Route 73 in Rochester.
On Monday morning property owner Wendy Andrews found the moose lying in the snow and after her efforts to feed and hydrate the moose failed Andrews gave permission to Fish and Wildlife to euthanize the moose.
Col. Robert Rooks, chief warden for Fish and Wildlife, said the moose will be shipped to the University of Connecticut and will undergo a complete carcass necropsy.
Rooks said the examination would hopefully reveal what made the moose so sick in the first place. Rooks said that among the possible causes are brain worm and chronic wasting disease.
Brain worm is a parasite known to infect moose that causes erratic behavior and eventually death. Brain worm is known to infect moose in Vermont, Rooks said.
"Chronic wasting disease is the equivalent of mad cow disease in wildlife," Rooks said. The disease has been found in the western United States and several provinces in Canada, Rooks said, as well as in a captive heard in New York State.
"I sure hope it's not here," Rooks said.
Rooks said that it is possible that the moose's diet might have contributed to his death. As word spread of a moose who did not fear people, more sightseers began to come and they fed him food that he could not digest, Rooks said, such as fruit, oats and doughnuts.
"They have a certain kind of bacterium in their stomachs in the winter that help them digest woodsy browse," Rooks said.
The necropsy is paid for by Fish and Wildlife and is part of their budget for monitoring wildlife, said Thomas Decker, chief of operations for Fish and Wildlife.
Decker said that every year Fish and Wildlife sends out 400 deer to be tested for chronic wasting disease and several thousand birds to be tested for avian influenza.
Decker said the overall necropsy cost for the moose would depend upon the number of tests that would have to be administered to discover the cause of its illness.
Rooks estimated that Fish and Wildlife would receive the results of the necropsy in about two weeks.
Contact Josh O'Gorman at josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com.
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