This is not a super fact but more of a fun fact. It is a piece of trivia that confuses a lot of people. What is the difference between a Moose and an Elk? Well that depends on where you live and you’d be surprised.
What people in North America refer to as a Moose is called an Elk in British English or in general when you speak English in Europe. It is called an “Älg” in Swedish, “Elg” in Norwegian and in Danish, “Elch“ in German, “Élan” in French, “Alce” in Spanish and Italian. If you use Google Translate “Elk” in English translates to “Älg” in Swedish and “Elch” in German, etc., but so does “Moose”. Using Google Translate Elk and Moose translate to the same animal in all other languages as well. However, if you ask ChatGPT to generate a picture of an Elk and then of a Moose you get two different animals. The same is true for Google AI. There is quite a bit of confusion.
The moose (Alces Alces) is called Elk in Eurasia. It belongs to the deer family and like all members of deer family the bull has antlers. It is the largest species within the deer family. After the mating season the males drop their antlers to conserve energy for the winter. A new set of antlers will then regrow in the spring. An interesting fact about moose is that not all bull moose have the same type of antlers. The moose in northern Europe and Alaska have palmate antlers, and they act as parabolic reflectors, amplifying sound at the moose’s ear. You may think that the plural of Moose is Meese, but it is not, and it is not Mooses either, it is just Moose. To read more about moose click here.
Elk (Cervus Canadensis) is the second largest species within the deer family. It is also called Wapiti, and I have come across the name Canada Deer in Europe. Remember, when in Europe you can’t call an Elk and Elk because in Europe the name Elk is reserved for Moose. Like Moose Elk shed their antlers every year. You can read more about Elk here. Note that it says “This article is about the species called “elk” in North America. For the species called “elk” in Eurasia (Alces alces), see Moose.”.
Moose and Elk Photos
My Moose and Elk Photos
The Murder Moose
The first story I ever wrote in my life I gave the title the “The Murder Moose” / “Mördar Älgen”. It was when I was in second grade in Swedish public school. Our teacher told us that we could write about anything, and I chose a horror story. The story was about a very big and dangerous moose that ran into to villages and killed people. At the end of the story a hunter shot the moose. I also drew a picture of a moose with big antlers and sharp teeth.
The inspirations behind this story were two-fold. A neighbor’s girl and I had been walking in the forest together when we saw something big moving behind a thicket around 30 feet ahead of us. At first it looked like a horse and carriage to me, but it couldn’t be. A horse and carriage could not have gotten deep into the forest. Suddenly two big heads peered out of the thicket. It was a bull moose and female moose. We screamed on top of our lungs and ran home, and the two moose startled by our screams ran the opposite way.
The second inspiration for the story is that moose hunting is very common in Sweden especially in northern Sweden where I lived. Sweden has a very large moose population of approximately 300,000 to 400,000 moose, with a stable population of around 350,000. Sweden is the country with the highest concentration of moose in the world. Each fall about 80,000 to 90,000 moose are hunted and killed during the hunting season as part of wildlife management. Therefore, moose hunting was a practice that a lot of adults I knew participated in. We also ate a lot of moose meat.
Super Facts 