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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
A moose’s hairs are hollow.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Moose
- Scientific name
- Alces alces
- Japanese name
- ヘラジカ
- Group
- Land mammals
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Cervidae
- Genus
- Alces
Where the name “Moose” comes from
The English name moose comes from an Algonquin word meaning twig eater.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebA long-legged, massive member of the deer family, it lives in the northern forests of the Northern Hemisphere.
Its long, bulbous muzzle droops down, and a flap of furry skin hangs beneath its throat.
In winter it browses on the twigs of woody plants, and in summer on leaves, shoots and water plants.
How the Moose lives
It is most active around sunrise and sunset. It travels to places where it can feed on plants. It stands or lies down to ruminate its food.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Size
- 2.3–3.1 m
- Weight
- 270–771 kg
- Lifespan
- up to 22 years in the wild
- Active
- By day (diurnal)
- Diet
- Stems and twigs of woody plants and leaves and shoots of deciduous plants
Where the Moose has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ヘラジカ
- 简体中文
- 驼鹿
- 繁體中文
- 駝鹿
- 한국어
- 말코손바닥사슴
- Español
- Alce
- Français
- Élan
- Deutsch
- Elch
- Português (Brasil)
- Alce
- Italiano
- Alce
- हिन्दी
- मूस
- العربية
- موظ
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Rusa besar
- Tiếng Việt
- Nai sừng tấm châu Âu
- Русский
- Европейский лось
- Türkçe
- Sığın
- ไทย
- กวางมูส
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Alces alcesChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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