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The moose (North America) or Elk (Eurasia), Alces alces, is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the largest and heaviest species in the deer family. Most adult male moose have characteristic wide palmar (“open hand-shaped”) horns; most other members of the antler family have dendritic (“twig-like”) antlers. Elk usually inhabit boreal forests and deciduous and mixed temperate forests of the Northern Hemisphere with temperate to subarctic climates. Hunting and other human activities have, over time, led to a reduction in the elk’s habitat. It has been reintroduced to some of its former habitats.

Currently, most moose are found in Canada, Alaska, New England (most of the lower 48 states are in Maine), Fennoscandia, the Baltic states and Russia. Its diet consists of both terrestrial and aquatic vegetation. The most common moose predators are gray wolves, as well as bears and humans. Unlike most other species of deer, moose do not form herds. They are solitary animals, except the calves, who remain with their mother until the cow begins estrus (usually 18 months after the calf’s birth), after which the cow drives away the young bulls. Although it is generally slow and lethargic, a moose can become aggressive and move quickly if angry or scared. Their mating season includes fierce battles between men fighting over women.

Alces is called “moose” in North American English and an “elk” in British; Its scientific name comes from its name in Latin. The word “elk” in North American English refers to a completely different species of deer, Cervus Canadensis, also called wapiti. An adult male moose is called a bull, a mature female cow, and both sexes’ immature moose is called a calf.

The word “elk” is derived from the Proto-Germanic language from which Old English originated and is associated with other Indo-European languages, for example elg in Danish / Norwegian; älg in Swedish; alnis in Latvian; Elch in German; and łoś in Polish (Latin alcē or alcēs and ancient Greek ἄλκη álkē, probably Germanic loanwords). In continental Europe, these forms of the word “elk” almost always refer to Alces alces.

The word “moose” first appeared in English in 1606 and was borrowed from the languages of the Algonqui (compare Narragansett’s moos and Eastern Abenaki mos; according to early sources they probably came from the word “moosu”, which means “he strips off”), and may have included forms of several languages that mutually reinforce each other. The proto-Algonquian form was * mo .swa.

Elk disappeared from Britain in the Bronze Age, long before Europeans came to America. The youngest bones were found in Scotland, about 3900 years old.

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