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Cordova's
Moose Herd: 1949-Present

Cordova and the Copper
River Delta did not
originally have any moose at
all. This all changed in the
year 1949 when, after much
deliberation, Merle K. Smith
flew three orphan moose
calves in on his airplane.
One male named Kenai
survived. He was only the
first moose to live on the
Delta, being released near
mile 14 of the highway in
the spring of 1950. As time
went on, the "moose milk
maids" received a better
formula with which to feed
the calves, and the
mortality rate decreased. As
there were plenty of orphan
calves elsewhere in the
state, and Cordova still had
plenty of room for them,
more babies were brought in
each year. When the project
came to a close in 1958, 24
moose had been released onto
the Delta. Of these, six
males and fourteen females
survived. In 1951, the first
female calves were released
onto the Copper River Delta.
This resulted in the arrival
of our first wild-born
calves two years later in
1953. These were most likely
sired by Kenai. The first
open to hunting arrived in
1960. 25 bulls were taken
that fall, but there was no
season the next year. In
1962, they opened up the
area from mile 7 to mile 27
and 25 more bulls were
taken. Today, the population
fluctuates between about 300
and 400 members. No new
calves have been introduced
to the area.
In the Words of Ed King:
"Play fair with the moose
herd here, we take some and
we leave some and hopefully
they will always be here!"
To help ensure this stays
true, the Alaska Department
of Fish and Game carefully
monitors the yearly moose
hunts in our area.
Native Village of Eyak
wants to do their part to
help ensure that the moose
population is genetically
healthy. They are performing
a genetic study of the moose
herd, so if you have any
moose meat in your freezer
(just 1 inch will do)
please call Jenae Campbell
at: (907) 424-7738.
(Monday-Friday 8am-5pm)
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