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 Moose
Facts to Get You Involved!
DID YOU KNOW
#1
Sweden, the size of California,
harvested over 170,000 moose
last year. Alaska currently has
around 150,000 moose total.
Alaskans can manage better.
DID YOU KNOW #2
What about nature’s way? We run
our Railroad through some of the
best habitat in the state, we
push our roads through moose’s
migration routes and we put most
fires out as soon as they start
which is natures way of creating
moose food. We are all part of
nature.
DID YOU KNOW #3
With 600+ moose hit by cars in
our cities with each collision
costing $15,000.00, Alaskans
annually pay $9,000,000.00 and
climbing. This does not take
into account loss of wages,
medical costs or even loss of
human life. Alaskans must do
better on our roads.
DID YOU KNOW #4
The 600 moose lost each year on
our roads consist of 50% cows,
40% calves and 10% bulls. Since
a cow is worth around 30 animals
because of her population
potential and half of the calves
are cows, we really lose 12,780
moose on our roads alone. We
need to do better!
DID YOU KNOW #5
Each year, about 650,000 moose,
caribou and sheep babies are
born in Alaska. Of this
population, less than 3% will be
harvested by human hunters.
About 10% will die of natural
causes while the remaining 87%
(600,000 animals) will be killed
by predators.
DID YOU KNOW #6
In Unit 13, once considered the
bread basket of the state that
consists of 23,000 square miles,
the moose population reached a
high in the fall of 1988 of
27,500 moose. In 2000, the fall
population was 9,000 moose. It
has been said that given these
trends, there may likely be no
moose in a majority of the unit
in the near future.
DID YOU KNOW #7
The Alaska State Constitution
mandates the State of Alaska to
manage moose on sustained yield
principle for the benefit of the
resource and the people of the
state. With our new State
Administration, the Dept. of
Fish & Game, Department of
Natural Resources and the Alaska
Moose Federation working
together, we can take proactive
roles of rebuilding our moose.
DID YOU KNOW #8
A moose, in order to stay
healthy, must eat 40 pounds of
browse daily.
DID YOU KNOW #9
Large bull moose are extremely
vital to healthy moose
populations. In the rut (annual
mating season), large groups of
cow moose (called harems) gather
under the protection of ideally
a large bull (greater than 50”
spread). The cows all come into
estrus simultaneously. Only
large bulls can sire all the
cows in their first cycle. If a
younger bull is overseeing the
harem, some of the cows will
miss being impregnated until the
next cycle that will cause the
calves to drop a month late in
the spring. Not only do these
calves face much higher
mortality rates because they
have one month less to prepare
for winter, but also the window
of opportunity for predators to
take these newborns is extended
thus impacting the herd twice as
hard. The Alaska Moose
Federation will establish herds
where large, dominant bulls are
the norm and not the exception.
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