51 Astounding Alaskan Moose Facts That Are Absolutely Unforgettable

A moose's diet includes willows, birch and aspen twigs, pond weeds, aquatic vegetation, and woody plants.

The male moose belongs to the deer species, and they tend to grow muscular antlers that make them 10 ft (3.04 m) tall. Antlers facilitate mating in autumn and they use sharp hooves to defend themselves from animals like wolves, and bears. Females can defend themselves with kicks that are capable enough to break bones, they weigh around 595.24-881.84 lb (270-400 kg) and their height is 5-6.5 ft (1.52-1.98 m).

One of the functions of the matured antlers is to help copulate with female moose. The male moose assert their dominance through fighting with antlers. They also shed their antlers after the mating season. Moose are known as elk in Europe.

Alaskan moose can survive in wild with an average life expectancy of 10-12 years. They can swim well and run up to a speed of 34.80 mph (56 kph).

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Range And Habitat

Being cold-blooded, the Alaska moose prefer cold places with edible food choices and the least risk of predation.

In North America, their population is present from Alaska to western Yukon. They are also present in the states of Washington, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, Lake Wenatchee, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, though their presence is scattered in Washington and Oregon.

Alaska moose are found from the Stikine River in the southeast of Alaska to the Colville River located on the Arctic slope.

In Europe, moose are populous in Sweden, Belarus, the northern part of Ukraine, Belorussia, and many other places. They tend to migrate in between temperate areas.

Their current migration path includes Fennoscandian parts, some parts in Russia, Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, Estonia, southern Caucasus, and the Scottish Highlands. They have a stable population in Siberia and a little increment of Chukotka moose was seen in the Kamchatka Peninsula.

In New Zealand, few moose were identified in Fiordland but this land was not an adequate habitat. According to Bergmann, the A. a. cameloides are smaller but A. a. buturlini are similar to A. a. gigas.

Status, Trends, And Threats

The population of Alaskan moose is between 175,000 to 200,000. This population is spread throughout Alaska and divided into various moose subspecies. Surveys are conducted to check their status.

Unit 1B is considered as the subspecies of Alces alces andersonii, with a lack of similarities with Alces alces gigas, the largest subspecies in Northern Alaska. They are seen to migrate from the Clarence Strait to Prince of Wales Island.

GMU-1B is found from Cape Fanshaw to Lemesurier Point and has migrated to the Stikine River and the Coast of British Columbia.

21 of '1C' subspecies were released from 1958-1960 from Anchorage. Their population was reduced due to a ruthless winter.

24 of 'GMU-6' subspecies were released at the Western Copper River Delta. The population was reduced in 1988, but now it is stable.

In the GMU-15 subspecies in the Western Kenai Peninsula, there has been severe population decline. The main reason is road accidents.

GMU-9 in the Alaskan peninsula has a stable population.

Subspecies GMU-12 faces several challenges from humans, wolves, and grizzly bears. There are few moose here. The GMU-13 subspecies also face the same threats and have a fluctuating population. The GMU-14 moose population is victim to accidents. Winters cause decline amongst GMU-16 moose subspecies.

Amongst the subspecies, GMU-17 and GMU-18 subspecies were left, and the GMU-19 population has been more or less stable. These three subspecies are spreading across different topographies.

GMU-20 subspecies have seen diversity in population stability. In '20B', intensive planning was required to stabilize the population. '20C', again, has a low density of moose. In '20D', causes of decline in numbers were decreased land area and forest fires. '20E' also has predation as the main cause for falling numbers.

Some of the other subspecies are GMU-21, GMU-22, GMU-23, GMU-24,GMU-25 and GMU-26. More or less, they have a stable population. In areas of low density, efforts are made to control the population.

Size And Weight

This species of male moose bulls are identified as sexually dimorphic in Alaska, sharing similarities with the deer family.

The dimensions of a male moose bull are as follows: their height up to shoulder is 6.9 ft (2.10 m), their huge antlers are 5.9 ft (1.80 m), and their weight is over 1600 lb (725.75 kg). These animals almost weigh the same as a black bear.

For female dimensions, the height up to shoulder is 5.9 ft (1.80 m) and they weigh 1054 lb (478.08 kg).

In 1897, the largest moose ever recorded was an Alaskan Moose that weighed 1808 lb (820.09 kg). The smallest one is found in Yellowstone, weighing 1000 lb (453.59 kg). There is also the Shiras moose, weighing 1400 lb (635.03 kg), which is one of the smallest in North America.

Behavior In Summer And Winter

Alaskan moose usually tend to migrate over various places throughout seasons.

Their indulgence in food tends to increase in winter, as they require more energy to survive in winter. To avoid snow, they sometimes use roads and rail tracks which causes casualties. They thrive in winter.

Thick skin and hollow dense hairs help moose through insulation due to trapped air. They reduce their energy expenditure. Their vegetation diet helps them to stock up their food without moving much and they get little energy from stored fats.

They try to find refuge in overhead cover forests. Being highly active, their summer diet includes aquatic plants such as, catkins, tall grass, water lilies. They usually thrive in winter-dominated areas but summer stresses them. These animals lose weight with a reciprocal decline in fertility. It is too much to adapt for them.

Social Structure And Reproduction

Moose are diurnal, crepuscular, and migratory. They are also solitary animals.

Adult moose are socially inept but not territorial. They lack acute eyesight but have stereophonic hearing. They live alone and are in groups during the mating season.

Their daily life includes browsing new places, avoiding or defending themselves animals like black bears, and wolves by using sharp hooves, searching for food, and rumination. Being polygynous, they get attracted by vocalizations.

The dominant bulls get involved in fights with other bulls to defend the female herd and avail their mates. In transient pair bonds, one male bull moose tends to defend one female moose and copulate in the breeding territory.

September and October are marked as reproductive seasons. Their estrous cycle is 24-25 days and their gestation period lasts 243 days and then a baby moose will be born, and even twins are very common in this species.

Conserving Moose

Moose are widely spread animals among boreal forests and are part of the deer family.

Alaskan moose tend to migrate over various habitats. They browse over several landscapes. The problems that face the moose are disruptions in their habitat such as fire, and the cutting of trees but any human disruption can lead to the loss of their habitat.

It makes them exposed to predators so we should take into consideration these clearcut obligations. The Southern Commercial and Boreal Forest Wildlife Management are noticing a rapid decline of moose in Saskatchewan.

A decline rate of 25.1% to 19.4% has been shown by WMZ-67. Moose are in high demand in hunter communities in interior Alaska and become a part of the native diet in Saskatchewan. A survey has been planned by WMZ-56 and 57 to geotag moose by radio-collaring them while migrating. Residents are allowed to kill one bull moose.

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