Moose

Moose are browsers, which means they consume parts of trees and woody plants. They will eat twigs, bark, roots, leaves, and tender shoots of various plants. During the summer months, moose will consume water plants. In the winter, moose will browse on conifers, such as balsam fir, and eat the needle-like leaves. They can eat more than 40 pounds of browse a day and most of the moose’s time is spent eating.

At the Zoo, moose are offered a wide range of browse, a specialized processed herbivore pellet, and a variety of enrichment.

Moose are found throughout northern North America. They occur throughout Alaska, Canada, the northeastern United States, and as far south as the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, Utah, and parts of Nevada.

Moose inhabit northern, mixed forests, especially near damp, marshy areas. Males tend to select habitats with greater food sources, while females tend to select areas with better cover to stay hidden.

Natural predators of moose include brown bears, wolves, and black bears. This is particularly important for young or sick moose, as they are more vulnerable.

In North America, moose face threats mainly from changes to their habitats. This includes habitat loss caused by farming and logging. Additionally, habitat fragmentation leads to less living space, and climate change can negatively impact moose populations by altering their environment.

Both male and female moose have a thick throat flap called a “dewlap” or “bell.” Only males, known as bulls, grow antlers. Every year, bulls shed their antlers, which then grow back. The new antlers can be up to five feet wide and are made of a mix of calcium and phosphorus, covered in soft skin known as velvet. This velvet has blood vessels that help the antlers grow. By late summer, the velvet dries up, stopping the blood flow, and the antlers harden. Bulls scrape the velvet off by rubbing their antlers against bushes and trees in the fall, just before the breeding season, when they need the antlers to compete for mates. They lose their antlers in winter, and new ones start to grow back in just a couple of weeks. Younger bulls will shed their antlers for the first time in their first year.

Moose have unique features that help them survive in the cold, swim well, and eat different types of plants. Their big hooves have four toes that flex, helping them walk on deep snow and find balance on various surfaces. Long legs allow them to reach higher branches for food, see far to spot predators, run fast, and jump over obstacles— they can run up to 35 miles per hour! Moose are also great swimmers and can swim at speeds of six miles per hour. Their fur is made of hollow hairs, which keeps them warm and helps them float.

Moose have special teeth and mouths that help them eat the many kinds of plants they find. When they eat, they use their front teeth to pull twigs into their mouths and bite them off. Their back teeth then chew and grind the food. There’s a space between the front and back teeth called a “diastema,” where they can hold twigs sideways and strip the leaves off by moving their heads back and forth. After chewing, they swallow the food, but as ruminants, they later bring back the partly chewed food, called “cud,” to chew again and get more nutrients. Their long intestines help absorb nutrients because plant food is not very rich in them. Additionally, their long heads help them reach food high up in trees or even underwater. Their nostrils can close automatically when they go underwater.

Moose have an excellent sense of smell and good hearing, which helps them detect predators in their forest habitats. Their eyesight isn’t the best, as their eyes are on the sides of their heads, creating a big blind spot directly in front of them. However, their keen hearing and sense of smell give them a better chance to escape or prepare for danger.

Breeding season for moose starts in early autumn when bulls, or adult males, go into rut. During this time, they challenge each other to win the chance to mate with cows, the adult females. Normally, a male moose will travel to mate with several females, but in a tundra environment, the dominant male will gather and protect a group of females, which is known as a “harem.”

After about 234 days of pregnancy, cows give birth to one or more calves in late spring or early summer. Moose calves nurse for around 60 days, but they also start eating vegetation as early as two to three weeks old. By the time they are one month old, half of what they eat will be plants. Calves usually stay with their mothers until she is ready to have another calf. When that time comes, she might drive the older calves away to encourage them to be independent.

Moose communicate through a variety of vocalizations, noises, body posturing, and odors.

Bulls are generally solitary and tend to keep separate unless it is breeding season or resources are focused in one area. Social units are usually a female and her offspring.