Name:Alces alces
Outline:Ungulata
Family:Artiodactyla Ruminantia Cervidae Odontodontinae Alces
length:200-300cm
Weight:400-700kg, highest record 1000kg
Life:About 30 years
IUCN:LC
Moose, whose foreign name is Moose, has 8 subspecies and is the tallest deer in the world.
The number of prongs in a moose's antlers is related to age. New horns are born between 6 and 8 months of age. The newly born horns are single branches, called cone horns. In the third year, 2 forks separate, and an angular disk appears at the base. There are 3 forks in the fourth year, 4-5 forks in the fifth year, and no pattern after the sixth year. The length and weight of the horn increase as the number of forks increases, and the area of the palmate horn increases particularly significantly. The horns are shed once a year. The old horns are shed from mid-February to the end of March, and new horns grow out about a month later. The horn begins to ossify from the base between July and August, and is completely ossified around September, and the velvet skin then falls off.
Male deer usually live alone, while female deer and fawns live in groups. They look for food and water all day long. There are more than 70 types of food, including grass, leaves, twigs, water lilies, duckweed and other aquatic plants. They eat a lot of food every day. It eats more than 20 kilograms of plants, ruminates like a cow after eating, and has the habit of licking salt and alkali.
In order to adapt to the harsh cold environment, moose have evolved many superb survival skills. In addition to short-sighted eyes, moose have very sensitive senses of hearing and smell. Although their bodies are tall and clumsy, moose are actually quite flexible. They can move freely on the ground with a depth of 60 centimeters in snow, and can run continuously at a speed of 55 kilometers per hour. It can take several hours; it is also a deer that can jump high, and can drag its body weighing thousands of kilograms to jump up to eat branches and leaves at high places. In addition, the biggest feature of the moose is that it is a veritable "water-proof golden-eyed beast" "It can swim more than 20 kilometers at a time, so many people have seen moose crossing the strait, and it can also dive to a depth of 5-6 meters to forage for aquatic plants.
Moose begin to come into estrus in late August, and the peak chasing season starts in mid-September and ends in October. Generally, female animals come into estrus about a week later than males. Male animals in estrus are extremely excited, with fluffy coats and congested corneas. They often roar in the morning and dusk. They often grind their horns on tree trunks to wipe off the bark, leaving many pit marks on the trunks. Sometimes they even scratch the ground with their horns. , turning up more than 10 centimeters of soil. The two male beasts first stared at each other, and then violently attacked their "love rival" with their huge horns, making a "crack-crack" sound. Under normal circumstances, when one party is defeated, they will leave knowingly, but sometimes the two parties are evenly matched, and it is inevitable that one of them will be harmed. If this kind of horn attack lasts for a long time, the huge and complicated horns of both sides will be twisted together like a hinge and cannot be separated. Over time, they may both die due to hunger and fatigue. The female chooses the winning male to mate. A winning male usually mates with only 1-2 females. The gestation period of the female is 242-250 days, and she usually gives birth from the end of May to the beginning of July of the following year, with one calf per litter and occasionally two. Newborn cubs are 70-82 centimeters long and weigh 10-12 kilograms. They are brown in color. Occasionally, some have white fur all over their bodies. They are called "white moose" or "albino moose". They are very rare. The birth rate is approximately one in 10,000. After giving birth, the female immediately stood up and licked the wet fur off her cubs. The cubs also began to struggle to stand up, but would fall down again. After repeated attempts many times, they could barely stand up. Pups grow rapidly, especially in the first 6 months. After 10-14 days, it begins to follow the female. After one month, it begins to eat grass and young leaves. The lactation period is about three and a half months. They can live independently after 1 year old and reach sexual maturity at 3-4 years old.
Although some moose are always killed by guns or on highways every year, the overall number is still large and there is no danger of extinction, and European and American countries have enacted relevant laws to protect them. This species has a wide distribution range and is not close to the fragile and endangered critical value standard for species survival (distribution area or fluctuation range is less than 20,000 square kilometers, habitat quality, population size, distribution area fragmentation), and the population number trend is stable, so it is evaluated as None A species in existential crisis.
It is listed in the 2008 Red List of Endangered Species of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) ver 3.1 - Low Concern (LC).
It is listed as a first-level protected animal in China.
It is included in the first level of the "List of National Key Protected Wild Animals in China".
Protect wild animals and eliminate wild game.
Maintaining ecological balance is everyone’s responsibility!