AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine wildlife managers are almost finished taking comments from the public about a plan to again trim the number of moose hunting permits.

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife wants to cut the number of moose permits to 2,080, which is 60 less than last year. The state gave out more than 2,800 permits in 2015.

The state is taking comments on the proposed cutback until Thursday. The permits will eventually be awarded via a lottery in June that typically attracts tens of thousands of applicants.

Moose face challenges in northern New England such as parasites like winter ticks. There is also an increasing demand from the public to view the animals in the wild.

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