Incredible sighting of moose mom, twin calves captured at Voyageurs National Park

INTERNATIONAL FALLS, Minn. (Gray News) - A mother moose and her twin calves were recently spotted on a trail camera at Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota.

The trail camera is operated by the Voyageurs Wolf Project, which studies wolves in the area.

The video shows the young moose trotting ahead of their mother on a path. At one point, she stops ahead of them to look around and listen, and they stop alongside her, alert. She decides it’s all clear, and they continue on their way.

The organization said the sighting of calves, which are generally born around May 11 or 12 in northern Minnesota, is rare.

The group said that recent research on moose calves in the state shows that only 34% survive to be 9 months old. Predators are the main threat to moose calves. About 50% of calf deaths occur by mid-July, with most occurring in the first 50 days.

Fortunately, the twin calves spotted in the video made it to at least mid-July, the group said, which bodes well for their survival.

The survival rate for moose calves generally stabilizes if they make it to 100 days old.

“That means that if this pair survived until September they are likely in the clear for a while,” the Voyageurs Wolf Project tweeted. “We will see if we get them on camera this fall!”

Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. TMX contributed to this report.