Moose

Alces alces

### Regions

Canada, USA, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia

## Habitat

### Water Area

754 m² +346 m²/ea. add'l
20 m² +10 m²/ea. add'l

### Temperature

0 m²
‒22‒20 ℃

## Social

### Fem. Bachelor

1‒4 (up to 1 male, up to 3 females)
1
1‒4

### Sterility

2 years
Death

### Interbirth

8 months
12 months

## Taxonomy

### Order

Mammalia
Artiodactyla

### Genus

Cervidae
Alces

The **Moose** or **Eurasian Elk** (*Alces alces*) is a large, Holarctic ungulate featured in the *Planet Zoo* North America Animal Pack.

## Zoopedia Description

### General

**Population In The Wild:** 300,000

Various subspecies of moose are native to Norway, Sweden Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the USA, and Canada. They live in boreal and deciduous woodland and their diet consists mostly of the young shoots from trees and woody plants. The moose is a large deer with thick brown fur and a noticeable neck hump. They have a characteristic nasal proboscis. The Alaska moose is the largest subspecies, males are extremely large, measuring between 5.6 and 7.6ft tall at the shoulders, have a head-body length of 8 to 10. ft and weigh 838 to 1540lb. Adult male moose have large palmate antlers that may or may not be covered in velvet depending on the time of the year. The antlers of the Alaska moose have a span of between 4.6 and 6ft. Female moose are similar in size but weigh significantly less, usually between 441 and 1078lb, and they do not have antlers.

The moose is not endangered. In most of its range, populations are stable. However, in some areas, unsustainable hunting and habitat destruction has reduced and fragmented their numbers to a sub-optimal level.

### Social

Moose are solitary animals that only meet to mate or compete over mates.

### Reproduction

During the mating season, males do not eat for 2 weeks while they focus o locating, guarding, and copulating with a mate. Males and females will bellow or signal to mates. Males will hear female calls from long distances and track them from the sound. When a female is located, a male will remain close to her and guard her until she becomes fertile. If another male locates the same female, males will assess each other based on size and antler span. If there is a male who is clearly the greater competitor, the other male will concede and leave. If they are evenly matched, males will fight by locking antlers, and the victor will continue to guard the female. He will remain with the female for up to 3 weeks. during this time, the female will have a fertile period of 15 to 26 hours when the male will mate her. After her fertile period is over, the male will leave in search of other potential mates. If the female does not mate during her fertile period, her oestrus cycle will begin again and she will be fertile again in 24 to 25 days.

After a pregnancy of 9months, the female will give birth to 1 or 2 calves. 30 to 40% of pregnancies will be twins during productive years when food is plentiful. 50% of calves die before they are 6 weeks old due to predation.

Calves begin eating solid food at 3 weeks old, and they are fully weaned by 5 months old. Mothers will chase away their calves when they become pregnant again, usually when the calves are around a year old. Moose reach sexual maturity at 2 years old but are unlikely to mate until they have reached full growth at 4-5 years old. This is especially true for males whose antlers need time to develop so they can compete for mates.

## Animal Care

 FEEDING STATIONS
 FOOD ENRICHMENT
Grazing Ball Feeder · Large Barrel Feeder · Hanging Grazer Feeder · Melon Feeder
Herb Scent Marker · Large Ball · Rubbing Pillar · Skittle · Large Snow Ball · Snowman Skittle Enrichment · Scots Pine/Tamarind Scratching Tree · Rubber Duck · Waterfall and Metal Frame

## Trivia

### Zoopedia Fun Facts

* The moose is the largest and heaviest species of deer.
* The calls of the female moose during mating season can be heard 1.92 miles away.
* The tongue, gums and lips of the moose are very tough to allow them to pick through and chew very woody material.
* Moose have no upper front teeth but very sharp lower front teeth.
* During the mating season male moose may become so aggressive that they will attack indiscriminately; they have been known to attack humans, wolves, deer and bears. Moose attacks are the most frequent kind of animal attack in the Americas.

### Other Trivia

* In the 1.8 Update, the Moose got temperate and tundra biome suitability.
* In the 1.9.1 Update the Moose got aquatic biome suitability.

## Gallery

Image of the moose from the Twitter Road Trip seriesLeucistic Moose