The tallest, largest and heaviest living deer, known as “elk” in British English. A solitary browser of northern forests, it spends a lot of time in and around water.
Quick answers
What is it?Mammal
Carnivore?No, herbivore
Dangerous?Can be
Moose aren’t usually aggressive, but when provoked or frightened they attack more people than bears and wolves combined, usually with only minor injuries.
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Day & night
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?Yes
Hunted across its range; in Sweden in 1983 moose made up 14% of all meat eaten.
At a glance
Found inNorth America, Europe, Asia
HabitatForest, Wetland, Rivers & lakes
ColoursBrown
SizeHuge
Length2.3–3.1 m
Weight270–771 kg
Legs4
Covered inFur
Lives alone
Lives for15–25 years
Can swim
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Northern forests of North America, northern Europe and northern Asia, from Scandinavia and the Baltic states to Russia and Mongolia.
- What it eats
- Mainly a browser of branches, twigs and leaves, plus aquatic plants in summer.
Did you know
Dives several metres underwater to reach pondweed.
Moose have been known to dive over 5.5 m to reach plants on lake bottoms.
Often confused with
- Elk
In North America “elk” means a different species of deer. In British English “elk” means the moose.
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