Moose
Alces alces
Moose are surprisingly adept swimmers, capable of swimming up to 6 miles per hour and diving 20 feet deep to forage for underwater plants.
- Scientific name
- Alces alces
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Mammalia › Artiodactyla › Cervidae › Alces
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- increasing
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Boreal forests, taiga, temperate mixed forests, and freshwater wetlands.
- Diet
- Herbivorous browser feeding on willow, birch, and aspen shoots, woody shrubs, and sodium-rich aquatic plants.
- Range
- Canada, United States, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia
- Size
- Height: 1.4-2.1 m (4.6-6.9 ft) at shoulder; Weight: 200-700 kg (440-1,540 lbs)
- Lifespan
- 15-25 years
- Active
- crepuscular
- Threats
- Vehicle collisions, habitat fragmentation, climate warming (causing heat stress), and severe winter tick infestations.
- Safe to approach?
- Defensive and potentially dangerous, especially mothers with calves or bulls during the autumn rut. Maintain a safe distance of at least 50 feet (15 meters). If a moose agitates (ears pinned back, hair on hump raised), back away slowly. If it charges, run and put a large obstacle like a tree or vehicle between you and the animal. If knocked down, curl into a ball and protect your head.
The moose (North America) or elk (Eurasia), Alces alces , is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the broad, flat (or palmate ) antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic ("twig-like") configuration. Moose typically inhabit boreal forests and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests of the Northern Hemisphere in temperate to subarctic climates. Hunting and other human activities have caused a reduction in the size of...
Photo: mikaelsoderberg, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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