Frank the Tank, a massive bull moose with a crown of antlers like weathered driftwood, wades through the shallows of Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park—just one of over 3,000 moose now thriving across Colorado. For decades, wildlife managers and park visitors alike believed these animals were newcomers, introduced in the 1970s after vanishing from the region. But a groundbreaking study published in the Journal of Biogeography reveals a deeper truth: moose have called Colorado home for centuries, possibly thousands of years, long before modern translocations began.
This discovery reshapes how we understand the state’s ecosystems. The label of “non-native” long applied to Colorado’s moose has influenced management policies and public perception, often framing them as ecological outsiders. But the new research, led by Dr. William Taylor of the University of Colorado Boulder and co-authored by Tribal leaders like Crystal C'Bearing of the Northern Arapaho, dismantles that narrative using a powerful convergence of evidence—archaeological finds, historical archives, museum specimens, and Indigenous knowledge.
At the heart of the study is the Jurgens collection, curated at the CU Museum, where specimens of moose remains were identified by pioneering archaeologist Dr. Joe Ben Wheat in northwest Colorado, dating back to the early Holocene—over 8,000 years ago. These physical traces are now supported by cultural records: among the Northern Arapaho, moose are not just known but valued, their hides and bones traditionally used in clothing, ceremonial regalia, and society items, a practice that continues today. Newspaper archives and early explorer accounts further confirm sporadic but consistent moose presence through the 1800s and early 1900s.
The implications extend beyond taxonomy. When animals are mislabeled as invasive, it can justify restrictive or even lethal management strategies. This study challenges that trajectory, emphasizing that moose are not interlopers but long-standing members of southern Rocky Mountain ecosystems. As co-author Jonathan Dombrosky of Crow Canyon Archaeological Center notes, this interdisciplinary approach—bridging science and tradition—offers a more accurate, ethical foundation for conservation.
For Meridia’s readers, this story is a quiet triumph of reconnection: between past and present, between data and tradition, between people and the wild beings they share landscapes with. As moose continue to shape high-altitude willow stands and draw awe from park visitors, their rightful place in Colorado’s natural history is finally being recognized—not as imports, but as inheritors.