Community scientists spot more moose on Summer Moose Day 2026
LANDER (WNE) — For the 10th year, community scientists helped identify moose populations in the mountains outside Laramie during Summer Moose Day weekend.
The 13 moose seen this year were far more than the eight witnessed in 2025.
"Summer Moose Day 2026 was a great success. Despite the heat, volunteers got out early to survey moose during their period of greatest activity, and weather conditions provided near-perfect viewing conditions for the routes," said Mason Lee, senior project coordinator for the University of Wyoming's Biodiversity Institute. "Additionally, for the third year in a row, the Biodiversity Institute led a moose hike and BioBlitz Walk at Curt Gowdy State Park. Although no moose were spotted on the guided hike, participants enjoyed getting to know the native plants and lichens found in the area."
Sixty-six volunteers across 22 groups ventured out in Albany County July 18-19 for Summer Moose Day weekend, covering nine routes in the Pole Mountain area and another nine in the Snowy Range. The Biodiversity Institute sponsored the event.
The community scientists hiked or drove designated routes between dawn and midmorning. They recorded observations of moose or their signs, which include tracks/hoofprints, bed areas, scat droppings and browse on aspen and willows.
Of the 13 moose surveyors saw, six were male bulls, five were females and two were calves, Lee says. The record of 16 moose spotted on Summer Moose Day was set in 2016 and matched again in 2022.
The data gathered from Summer Moose Day are shared with biologists at UW. These biologists use the data collected by community scientists to further their understanding of the population densities of local moose, their reproductive rates, summer habitat quality, their winter ranges and how these variables change over time.
This story was published on July 29, 2026.
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