Moose Fact Sheet
Moose
Alces alces
Art by Jean Gawalt
New York Status: Protected
Description
The moose is the largest member of the deer family (Cervidae), and the largest land mammal in North America. Adult bulls weigh from 600 to 1200 pounds and stand up to 6 feet tall at the shoulder. Adult cows weigh 500-800 pounds. Both sexes have long, grayish-white legs, dark brown or black bodies, and a dangling flap of skin under the throat called a bell. A mature bull's bell is much larger than those of cows and young bulls. Cows have a light brown face and a white patch of skin under the tail, while bulls have a dark face and no white patch. Only bulls grow antlers, beginning in March or April. The antlers, which are regrown annually, may reach a width of over 5 feet on mature bulls, and are shed from November through January.
Life History
The breeding season, or rut, occurs in late September and early October. During this time bulls compete for cows by sparring with each other, with the older, larger bulls usually doing most of the breeding. A single bull may breed with five or six cows during the rut. Bulls do not eat much during the rut and lose considerable weight. After the rut they feed heavily to prepare for the upcoming winter. Cows can breed at 1 ½ years of age, but most don't breed until they are 2 ½ years old. Young cows normally have one calf while mature cows may have twins or rarely triplets. The gestation period is about 230 days, so calves are born in late May or early June. Calves are 20-25 pounds at birth, but will weigh 300-400 pounds by fall. Calves stay with the cow for the first year of their life, until the cow has calves the following year.
Distribution, Habitat and Food Habits
Moose are a circumpolar species, occurring in boreal forest areas of the Northern Hemisphere. In North America they are found from Alaska eastward to the Atlantic Ocean, and south into the Rocky Mountains, northern Great Lakes, and the Northeast states. In New York most of the moose are located in the northeastern part of the state in the Adirondack mountains, and in the Taconic highlands along the Massachusetts and Vermont borders.
Moose are primarily browsers, feeding on the leaves, twigs, and buds of hardwood and softwood trees and shrubs. An adult moose will consume 40-60 pounds of browse every day. Favored plant species include willows, birches, maples, balsam fir, viburnums, aspen, and mountain ash. In the winter moose may strip and eat the bark from small trees, usually maples and aspen. In summer moose feed heavily on aquatic plants in ponds and wetlands, wading into the water and reaching beneath the surface for plants. They also depend on these wet areas to escape from biting insects and hot weather.
Ideal moose habitat consists of a mosaic of upland mature mixed forest, open areas created by burns or logging, and wetlands. The regrowth of browse species after a fire or clearcut offers nutritious browse in large quantities needed by moose. Small clearcuts with some softwood cover retained are better than large clearcuts over 100 acres.
Mortality Factors
The black bear is a significant predator of moose calves less than nine weeks old. Coyotes may also take an occasional calf. There are no predators of adult moose in New York, but elsewhere in North America, Gray Wolves are the main predator.
Moose are susceptible to a parasite known as brainworm that infects the nervous system and usually causes death. Other parasites such as liver flukes and lungworm can weaken a moose and make it susceptible to secondary infections. In other states with a higher moose density winter ticks have become the main mortality factor for moose, but the ticks have not yet been documented in New York. This tick spends three life cycles on an individual animal, taking blood meals during each cycle.
Vehicle collisions are a significant mortality factor for moose, especially where road densities are high. Moose are so tall that an automobile will usually pass under the body, causing it to come over the hood into the windshield and roof. Moose are most active from dusk to dawn when their coloration makes them difficult to see in the roadway, and their eyes are usually above the reach of car headlights. About one to two percent of moose/car collisions result in a human fatality. DEC is working with the Department of Transportation to develop warning methods for motorists in moose country. Research in other states has shown that vehicle speed is the most common factor leading to moose collisions, so the best way to avoid hitting a moose is to slow down, especially from dusk to dawn.
Status and Management
Moose entered the state on a continuous basis in the 1980's, having been absent since the 1860's. DEC collected reports of sightings between 1980 and 1999 as an informal way of monitoring the species' progress.
In the early 1990's, DEC drafted an Environmental Impact Statement and conducted a series of public meetings on moose. As a result of this process DEC instituted a number of actions to follow until the moose population, or our understanding of it, changed substantially. The Department (1) supported the return of moose in the northern 14 counties of the state; (2) rejected a proposal to accelerate the natural return of moose through a translocation program; (3) recognized the need to monitor the species' progress both to ensure the species success and to meet public demand for information about moose; and (4) recognized the need to address nuisance situations.
Biologists estimate that there are presently 300-500 moose in New York. It is at best a rough guess as we have no standardized procedure in place for estimating numbers of moose. It is based on animals and tracks observed during winter aerial surveys, known moose mortalities, moose sightings by the public, and observed reproduction. Finally we also assume that the population is increasing at about the same rate as it did in Vermont and New Hampshire (10-15% per year).
Moose management in New York consists of monitoring the population size and distribution, and occasionally relocating an animal that becomes a nuisance or gets into a populated area where it is a danger to itself and/or people. Future management actions may include implementing studies to refine our knowledge of the factors affecting moose distribution and numbers in New York.
Moose-related Legislation
Effective July 6, 1999 the State Legislature amended section 11-0915 of the Environmental Conservation Law concerning the disposition of moose carcasses resulting from vehicle collisions. It allows people who accidentally kill a moose with a motor vehicle, and who's vehicle has been damaged, to obtain a permit from a law enforcement officer to keep the carcass. Should they decline the opportunity, the officer can issue a permit to another party.
