Wildlife biologists are conducting a three-year study of moose populations in New York's Adirondack Mountains after die-offs occurred in New Hampshire and Minnesota.

The new study aims to examine and estimate how many moose are actually in the Adirondack region and the kind of habitat they usually thrive in, said wildlife biologist, Ed Reed. These factors will help determine how increases or decreases in local moose populations affect the overall population.

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State conservationists estimate between 500 to 1,000 moose are living within the Adirondacks located in northeastern New York, a state protected area spanning millions of square miles. Reed insists on a more recent survey that will provide a clearer estimate of moose populations in the Adirondack mountains.

The survey will begin this winter in collaboration with the NY Department of Environmental Conservation, Cornell University and the Wildlife Conservation Society. Joining these efforts is New York's State University College of Environmental Science and Forestry that will also help count moose populations in the region.

Beginning January 2015, helicopters will scout the snowy mountains to track down the moose. Moose droppings will also be collected for further DNA analysis and to determine their diet and population genetics.

The Adirondack Mountains stretch into the deep north. New York is located near the southern edge of the moose range in North America.

In the 1800s, the moose population was almost wiped-out but conservation efforts led by then Governor Theodore Roosevelt made the whole Adirondack region a protected state park. In the 1980s, moose herds slowly migrated back into the mountains. Moose hunting is illegal in the state of New York.

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