THE STATUS OF APPLIED MOOSE AGING TECHNOLOGY

A survey of North American jurisdictions is the basis of a report on applied moose ageing methodology. The literature was reviewed with respect to progress in aging technology, and validity of applied techniques. Eighteen jurisdictions, of 21 with moose harvests, age moose for management purposes. Sixteen agencies base ages on counts of cementum annuli. Many jurisdictions do not use the maximum technology available: histological sectioning and staining. All current techniques suffer from subjective counting criteria, and inadequate verification. Image enhancement holds promise for near term advances toward objective counting of cementum annuli