The far-northern reaches of the United States and even in parts of Canada, moose are disappearing faster and faster as the years pass and it has left experts bewildered, the New York Times reported.

In Minnesota, one of two geographically separate populations of moose has reduced to less than 100 from about 4,000 in the 1990s. The other population is down to less than 3,000 from 8,000 at the same time, a declining rate of about 25 percent. Due to the rapid decline, state wildlife officials have suspended the hunting of moose indefinitely.

In Montana, moose hunting permits fell from 796 in 1995 to 362 last year.

"Something's changed," said Nicholas DeCesare, a biologist with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "There's fewer moose out there, and hunters are working harder to find them."

The leading cause of this decline seems to be causes related to global warming. In New Hampshire, longer autumns and less snow fall means a stronger presence of winter ticks. The parasites are known to be devastating to moose populations. Among Minnesota moose, brain worms and liver flukes do a lot of damage. Both reside in snails for the better part of their life cycles and need moist environments to live. Lastly, moose are clod-weather animals anyway and are not meant to be able to survive in warm weather.

In various areas of British Columbia, pine bark beetles are on the rise and a loss of trees contributes to moose being preyed upon by humans and other animals.

"It's complicated because there's so many pieces of this puzzle that could be impacted by climate change," said Erika Butler, a former wildlife veterinarian at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Since moose deaths are hard to study, Minnesota wildlife officials began a $1.2 million dollar initiative to find moose immediately after they die. To track the moose, scientists place a collar, meant to monitor their heartbeat, around their necks. To get these collars onto the animals, they have to be captured and fitted for the devices, at which time they are also fed food containing tracking transmitters.

"If the heart stops beating, it sends a text message to our phone that says, 'I'm dead at x and y coordinates,' " said study lead author Dr. Butler, adding that a field team will immediately dispatch to the animal's location.

Ticks seem to be the leading cause, however. They are known to swarm moose and drive them crazy, causing the animal to scratch themselves so ferociously they tear layers of their own fur off. Tick infested moose have also been known to deliriously wander into towns, creating a public safety problem as well.