MOOSE POPULATION IN NORTH AMERICA

The moose population in North America is shrinking swiftly. This decrease has been correlated to the opening of roadways and landscapes into this animal’s north range. 

In North America, the moose range includes almost all of Canada and Alaska, the northern part of New England and New York, the upper Rocky Mountains, northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and Isle Royale.

In 2014-2015, the North American moose population was measured at around one million animals.

The most abundant moose population (about 700,000) lives in Canada.

About 300 000 moose remains in nineteen U.S. states Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

The largest moose specimens are found in Alaska 200 thousand moose.

Below the map shows the size of US states scaled by the moose population.

The moose (North America) or elk (Eurasia), Alces alces, is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult male moose have distinctive broad, palmate (“open-hand shaped”) antlers; most other members of the deer 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 the moose’s range over time.

It has been reintroduced to some of its former habitats. Currently, most moose occur in Canada, Alaska, New England (with Maine having the most of the lower 48 states), Fennoscandia, the Baltic states, and Russia. Its diet consists of both terrestrial and aquatic vegetation.

The most common moose predators are the gray wolf along with bears and humans. Unlike most other deer species, moose do not form herds and are solitary animals, aside from calves who remain with their mother until the cow begins estrus (typically at 18 months after birth of the calf), at which point the cow chases away young bulls.

Although generally slow-moving and sedentary, moose can become aggressive and move quickly if angered or startled. Their mating season in the autumn features energetic fights between males competing for a female.