Plymouth County, Iowa — It’s not known if it was the same moose that was seen last fall in Lyon County, but a moose has been found dead in Plymouth County.
We talked to Iowa Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Biologist Doug Chafa about it.
He says they believe the moose, which was confirmed to be a female, died of natural causes, but they don’t know yet if there’s any relationship between the death and why the moose was this far south out of its range.
There is a worm that affects moose brains, but it’s not known if this moose had that or not.
Chafa tells us it’s not super common for moose to be in our area, but it’s also not super rare. In fact, they are sometimes seen even further south. One was seen near I-80 in recent years. And he says it’s a little more unusual for a female moose to be found out of its area than a male.
Chafa says they wonder if perhaps she came further south due to the moose population growing in her home area.
He says he assumes that the Lyon County moose and the Plymouth County moose are the same animal, but it would be very difficult to know for sure.
