moose, largest member of the deer family, genus Alces, found in the northern parts of Eurasia and North America. The Eurasian species, A. alces, is known in Europe as the elk, a name which in North America is applied to another large deer, the wapiti. The Eurasian and the American moose are quite similar, but the American moose is somewhat larger and is considered by some to be a separate species, A. americana. It inhabits the coniferous forests of Alaska, Canada, and the northern conterminous United States. The moose has a heavy brown body with humped shoulders, and long, lighter-colored legs, the front pair longer than the hind ones. It has a thick, overhanging, almost trunklike muzzle and a short neck; a flap of skin covered with long hair and called the bell hangs from the throat. The male has broad, extremely flattened antlers, with a spread of up to 6 ft (180 cm). The largest variety is the Alaska moose; the adult male weighs from 1,000 to 1,800 lb (450-820 kg) and stands as much as 71/2 ft (2.3 m) high at the shoulder. Browsers rather than grazers, moose eat leaves, twigs, buds, and the bark of some woody plants, as well as lichens, aquatic plants, and some of the taller herbaceous land plants. Moose live in small groups during the summer, sometimes forming large herds in the winter. They are polygamous, the males becoming very aggressive during the mating season. They are strong swimmers, reportedly crossing lakes many miles wide. Protection in national parks and reserves in Canada and the United States has saved the moose from extermination. Hunting of moose is strictly regulated. The Eurasian moose, or elk, is found from Scandinavia to E Siberia. Moose are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, Class Mammalia, order Artiodactyla, family Cervidae.

Moose Jaw, city (1991 pop. 33,593), S central Sask., Canada. It is a railroad and distribution center, with oil refineries, meatpacking and dairy-processing plants, flour, lumber, and woolen mills, stockyards, and Canada's largest jet-training base.

Moose Factory, trading post, NE Ont., Canada, near the mouth of the Moose River on James Bay. A fort was built there by Charles Bayly, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, in the early 1670s. In the struggle between the English and French in Canada, the fort changed hands several times and shortly after 1696 was destroyed. In 1730 the company built a post close to the ruins of the original fort. This post has been in continuous operation to the present day.

Moose, river, c.50 mi (80 km) long, formed in central Ont., Canada, by the Mattagami and Missinaibi rivers. It flows NE to its confluence with the Abitibi River and into SW James Bay near Moosonee.

Bull Moose party: see Progressive party.

Largest species (Alces alces) in the deer family (Cervidae), found in northern North America and Eurasia. It is called elk in Europe. Moose have long legs, a bulbous and mobile muzzle, short neck and tail, and a brown, shaggy, coarse coat. They stand 5–7 ft (1.5–2 m) tall and weigh up to 1,800 lb (820 kg). Males have enormous flattened, tined antlers that are shed and regrown annually. Moose wade in forest-edged lakes and streams, eating submerged aquatic plants, and browse on leaves, twigs, and bark. They are usually solitary, but North American moose often assemble in bands in winter. They range throughout the Canadian coniferous forests and those of the northern U.S. They have been protected from extermination by regulation of hunting. Seealso wapiti.

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