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INDUSTRY
~ 1991 J.t:. Haigh MRt:VS
University of Saskatchewan
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Moose
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Introduction
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Moose (Alces alces ) are common to the
boreal forests of the Soviet Union, Scandinavia,
and North America. In North America the
species tends to follow the general rule promulgated by Bergman that the further north a species is found, the larger it becomes. There are
four subspeciesof the genus Alces recognised
in North America. The largest is A.a. gigas
which is found in Alaska, the western Yukon
and perhaps the very northern tip of British
Columbia. The range of gigas merges with
that of its smaller relative A.a. andersoni which
is found throughout most of western Canada in
the boreal forest areas,the Northwest Territories
and isolated pockets such as Moose Mountain
Provincial Park in Saskatchewan. It ranges as
far east as Northwestern Ontario, and occupies
appropriate habitat in states to the south such as
Washington, Idaho and Minnesota. In most of
Ontario, Quebec, and the maritimes A.a.
americana is found. The smallest sub-speciesis
the shiras moose, A.a. shirasi which is found in
the very southeasterncorner of BC and ranges
further south than any of the others, being found
in southern Utah. Even its habitat may be quite
different than that normally associated with the
forests and marshy grounds of the north. Much
of the range in Utah is mountainous, but is
covered in dry oak scrub for a period of the year.
from 226-244 days, and 240-246 days is"q'uoted
for Canadianmoose. A pair of yearling females
that had no possible accessto a male, and were
<;loselymonitored by Bob & Lyn Stewart,
calved 216 and 218 days after being penned
with a bull. This wide range is interesting, but
there is no easy explanation for the differences.
In the wild yearling female moose do not usually breed, unless they are very well grown and
have abundantforage available. There do not
appearto be any formal studies showing the
critical weight at which females will come into
estrus, but in many other deer species it is about
65-70% of mature weight.
Domestication
In 1865 Galton listed 6 requirements for
successful domestication of species. They are
that the animals:- should be hardy; should have
an inborn liking for man; should be comfortloving; should be found useful...; should breed
freely; and should be easy to tend. Moose
qualify on all but the fIrst, but there is a modern
interpretation that makes them less suitable than
Weights of adult moose fluctuate throughout the year, as in other cervidae. The maximum weights may exceed 700 kg (1540 lbs) in
Alaska whereas a bull moose weighing 550 kg
(1210 lbs) has been recorded in mid-winter in
Saskatchewan. The latter is likely to be at least
10% less than the maximum prior to the rut.
Gestationis generallyquotedasbeing
Publicationsupportedby the Canada/Saskatchewan
ERDA agreement
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either wapiti of fallow deer. This is the requirement that animals suitable for domestication
form herds and have a dominance heirachy that
makes them easy to handle.
Moose are an example of a species which
has failed to become widely established as a
farm animal. It does appear that they can be
readily domesticated and historical records in
both Russia and Canada that indicate that they
have been used as draft animals for at least 300
years.
There have been moose farms in Russia
for many years. There is a description from
1861 telling of the use of moose for drawing
com from the fields, and the riding of moose
was once common practice, until it was banned
becausepolice on horses could not catch up with
villains on moose! The first experimental farms
were started in Russia after the 2nd world war,
and by 1969 there had been a 4th generation
moose that was 18 years old.
The most successful managementsystems
involved no fences, and the moose were allowed
to range freely in search of food, returning in
winter for supplemental feed. Bottle raised
moose, captured at less than 3 days of age, are
easy to tame, and may be milked with ease when
they calve. Wild-caught adult moose do not
adapt readily to captivity, and often die of stress
related diseases.
Perhapsbecausecalves were often found
and were quite tamable, moose have always
attracted attention. Samuel Hearne, a Hudson
Bay Company employee in the late 1700s,
considered moose to be:
the easiestto tameand domesticateof
the deerkind. I have repeatedlyseen
themat Churchill as tameas sheep,and
evenmore so;for theywouldfollow
their keeperanydistancefrom homeand
at his call return with him.
Table 1
Ingredient
GF-M-I-O2
Aspen*
concentrate
Corn, Ground yellow
Wheat
Sunflower hulls -whole
Sawdust -"Pibrelite"
Oats, ground
Oats, whole
30.0
Barley, ground
Beet pulp
Cane molasses, dry
Can molasses, wet
Soybean meal (7.4% N)
12.5
7.5
"Pelaid"
1.3
25.0
15.0
6.3
Pellet binder
Dicalcium phosphate
Sunflower#
concentrate
28.2
26.6
17.2
5.6
5.6
5.6
7.2
0.8
1.4
Biophos
NaCI
0.5
Salt (cobalt iodised)
Vitamin A,D,E
0.3
"Mycoban"
Fig 2. Youngmoose calvesrea4ily adaptto handrearing.
Hand-raised bull mooseare dangerous and unpredictable during the time that their antlers are hard, and
must be handled wih great care
(fromref# 4)
Compositionand analysisof two pelletedmooserations
Trace minerals & flavour
trace
trace
Analysis
Dry matter
Crudeprotein
Cell wall constituents
Acid detergentfibre
Lignin
Ash
Grossenergy(Kcal/g)
Calcium
Phoshorus
Magnesium
Zinc (ppm)
Copper(ppm)
Manganese(ppm)
Selenium(ppm)
84.9
12.7
57.0
24.0
5.2
1.1
4.26
1.1
0.58
0.17
114.9
13.5
106.8
0.2
0.8
1.0
* Schwartz
et al1985
# Stewart pefS comm)
Figs 3 & 4 On the left is a print takenfrom a photo publishedin a newspaper(possiblythe WinnipegFreePress)takenin 1905of a mooseteamin
harness.In racesagainsthorsessuchteamswere seldomif everbeaten. On the right, a morerecentPolishpicture of a moosepulling a sleigh.
Archives contain many photographs of
moose used for riding or pulling sleighs but they
are usually yearling and subadult animals. (see
figures on page 3) Moose continue to be difficult to maintain for long periods of time and
captive populations are seldom self-sustaining.
Moose may be behaviourally suited to life as
domestic animals but are susceptible to disease,
have exacting requirements for feed, and generally require a great deal of space.
Studies of captive moose in North
America have occurred at Ministic, near Edmonton, and on the Kenai peninsula in Alaska. At
Ministic, production was the main focus of
attention, while at the Kenai, other subjects, .
particularly as they relate to the biology of freeranging moose, was the objective. Nonetheless,
the scientists at the Kenai have developed a
ration which has improved the longevity of
moose in captivity and overcome some of the
digestive problems seen. As moose, the largest
of the cervidae, are concentrate selectors, seldom grazing unless forced to, they have ~ highly
specialized dietary requirement that involves the
ingestion of relatively high proportions of fibre.
Rations involving either aspenconcentrate, or
sunflower hulls, have beenused with some
success.(see table 1)
However moose are more of a solitary
than a herd animal and their high productivity is
balanced by high mortality rates. Although they
can evenbe hand-milkedefforts in bothRussia
and
to been
develop
large scalemooseoperationsCanada
havenot
successful.
.
Handling
There are few records of moose being
handled in chute systems, but it is certainly
possible with animals that are used to captivity.
Minor modifications to handling systemsdeveloped for wapiti would probably work well.
Trained animals can be held in minimal chutes,
for simple procedures such as blood sample
collection. Immobilizing drug doses are similar
to those for wapiti.
Problems
When kept inside fences on game fanns
moose will always try to browse in preference to
any other style of feeding. This will eventually
cause irreversible, damage to trees. Only if
sufficient browse is made available to them year
round will moose do well without special diets.
Manage~ent staff at the Quebec City Zoo have
been able to keep moose on display for long
periods by providing browse cut by a contractor
clearing under power lines on a year round
basis. The browse is stored in a cooler and kept
just above freezing for year-round use.
Moose are susceptible to a variety of
disease conditions. Probably the most important
of the viral conditions to which they succumb is
malignant catarrhal fever (GF-S-6). They
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usually die within about a
week of contracting the
disease,and there is no
treatment or vaccine.
There are several
parasitic conditions to which
they are susceptible. Ticks,
especially the winter tick
Dermacentor albipictus may
cause extensive or even
virtually complete hair loss,
and this parasite has often
been incriminated in moose
die-offs, especially in late
winter when the coat is so
important for insulation from
the cold. (GF-S-8). (see fig 5)
FigS
Moderatetick infestationon a mooseatMinistic. In severecasesalmostall of the guardhairs
may bebrokenoff. In suchcasesthe animalappearswhite, which is probablythe origin of the
"ghostmoose" mythuncoveredby Dr. Bill Samuelandhis teamat the University of Alberta.
Conclusion
The brain wonn, or meningeal wonn
Parelaphostrongylus tenuis is also an important
parasite of moose, causing so-called "moose
sickness" or circling disease.(GF-S-2).
There are a number of gastrointestinal
parasites to which these animals are susceptible,
and they may develop diarrhoea that is difficult
to control. In fact chronic scours, due to improper diet, worms, or coccidiosis, may be the
most common problem seen in captive moose.
Other than the important abomasal parasitesof
the family Ostertagiinae the whip-worm,
Trichuris spp., which parasitizes the caecum,
may causeproblems. Personal experience has
shown that ivermectin is not always reliable for
treating moose infected with this worm. An
alternative is the use of mebendazole in the feed
for 3 days at a dose of 10 mg/kg.
Mebendazole is available in Canada as
Telmin, which either comes in powder or as a
paste in a syringe. It can be administered either
with the syringe, or inside a banana, as moose
that have been accustomed to this fruit will eat it
eagerly. A note of caution however, there is a
preparation of Telmin for horses called Telmin
B. This contains an organophosphateas well as
the mebendazole. The one experience that I have
had with it was almost a disaster, and the moose
showed signs of poisoning for several days.
Moose may be possible to keep in small
numbers behind fences, as long as they are
properly fed, and have access to some form of
browse or high fibre diet. Unless some new
information on management comes to light they
are unlikely to prove to be a commercially
viable livestock species for the production of
venison, as the costs of maintenance, and the
problems associated with management, are
likely to preclude high stocking rates.
Bibliography
GaltonF (1865) The first stepstowardsthe domestication of animals. Trans.Ethnolog.Soc.Lond. N.S. 3:
122-138.Reprintedin Inquiries into HumanFaculty.
MacMillan & Co. New York.
Haigh,J.C. (1991). Managementrequirementsfor farmed
deer. In Biology of deer. Brown,R.D. (ed) Springer
Verlag. New York. In press.
Schwartz,C.C., Regelin,W.L. and A.W. Franzmann.
1985. Suitabilityof a formulatedration for moose.J.
Wildl. Manage.49: 131-141.
Syroechkovsky,E.E., Rogacheva,E.V. and L.A. Renecker
1989. Moosehusbandry. In Wildlife Production
Systems.(Hudson,R.J., Drew, K.R. and L.M. Baskin
(cds). CambridgeUniversityPress.369-386.
Photocredits:-Fig 1,2,5.J. Haigh. Fig 3. ?Winnipegfree
press1905. Fig 4. A. Krzywinski
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