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Alces alces gigas, also known as the Alaskan Moose or Yukon Moose is a subspecies of moose found in the far north west of the Americas. The subspecies is noted as being the largest of any moose subspecies with the average male standing at six foot nine at the shoulder and weighing as much as 1,500 pounds. Paired with their length of roughly nine feet its easy to see why they were named "Alces alces gigas" as Alces alces means moose and gigas means giant. The species is quite common in the state of Alaska and territory of the Yukon and they are as a species listed as being of least concern on the IUCN red list.

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Alces alces gigas Range, Habitat, and Behavior as a Subspecies. 

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Alces alces gigas Range, Habitat, and Behavior as a Subspecies. 

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Globally moose are found in the northern, typically coniferous, forests that stretch across the globe from North America to Western Europe to Russia. The subspecies of Alces alces gigas can be found specifically in the United States of Americas state of Alaska and in the Canadian territory of the Yukon and province of British Columbia (Moose - Alces alces gigas, 2018). Throughout the range of Alces alces gigas they can be found in varying places dependent on the season. In the summer Alaskan Moose are found typically in places where their food sources are abundant, this would be on the banks of streams, lakes, or in open vegetated areas. In the winter these moose move to more wooded areas where shelter from the elements is more common. In summer months a moose's diet typically consists of "aquatic vegetation, deciduous leaves, and forbs" (Belovsky, 2004). During winter months moose eat willow, birch and aspen twigs.
Alces alces gigas are predominantly solitary animal's but are known to form groups during the breeding season, also known as the rut.
The area these animals inhabit plays a crucial role in their behavior throughout the year as the Alaskan winters are harsh and unforgiving while the summers see huge blooms in plant life that the moose must take advantage of if they want to survive the coming winter.

In the attached map the brown area denotes the range of Alces alces gigas.

Citation(s):
U.S. Department of the Interior. (2018). Moose - Alces alces gigas. National Parks Service. Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://www.nps.gov/kefj/learn/nature/moose.htm

Belovsky, G. E. (2004, December 16). Diet optimization in a generalist herbivore: The moose. Theoretical Population Biology. Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0040580978900072

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Unfortunately data on the subspecies Alces alces gigas is unavailable on the IUCN red list. However the species as a whole, Alces alces, is fortunately listed as a species of least concern. The species is also noted as generally seeing positive growth trends overall. The threats that face Alces alces are primarily the development of "Housing & urban areas - Commercial & industrial areas" (IUCN, 2015).

Citation(s):
Kris Hundertmark (University of Alaska Fairbanks). (2015, September 27). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/56003281/22157381

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Moose are portrayed in the media in a number of ways. In cartoons such as Rocky and Bullwinkle (https://youtu.be/65t-OzhlmvE) its often as a dumber character. This is probably due to their poor eye sight and quickness to be aggressive, this paired with their large size and clumsy looking legs makes them easy to joke about. In other forms of media moose are often noted for their size and perceived danger posed to humans. Examples could be in the news, comedy, or photography. A political party created by former president Theodore Roosevelt was named "The Bull Moose Party" as president Roosevelt boasted after loosing the republican nomination that he felt "as strong as a bull moose".

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Ances ances gigas Management and Ecology

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Ances ances gigas Management and Ecology

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Moose are primarily as a species managed in North America through regulated hunting seasons and natural ecological process's such as predation and density dependent factors such as food scarcity. Although humans help regulate moose populations through a number of active and passive means, hunting is largely the most widespread method. Human regulation of moose via hunting saw 425,537 licensed moose hunters harvested 82,096 moose in North America in the year 2015 (Timmermann & Rodgers, 2017). This strategy has been largely effective at maintaining stable moose populations as moose populations are of least concern according to the IUCN Red List and even are growing in some areas. This is to the benefit of both moose and their environment as moose are largely seen as an eco-stabilizer in the food web. An exciting new finding relating to moose ecology was recently found in a study examining moose herbivory on plant morphology. The study found that  plant responses to browsing increases the probability of future herbivory by moose on the plant (Mathisen, 2017). This meaning that as vegetation is foraged upon by Alces alces, the plants regrowth is actually more enticing to the moose and promotes more foraging. This behavior can alter the entire shapes of forests as continual moose grazing can alter plant population dynamics and has implications on the forestry practices where moose are present!

Citation(s):
Timmermann, H. R., & Rodgers, A. R. (2017). The status and Management of Moose in North America - circa 2015. Alces. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from https://www.alcesjournal.org/index.php/alces/article/view/177

Mathisen, K. M., Milner, J. M., & Skarpe, C. (2017, April 4). Moose–tree interactions: Rebrowsing is common across tree species - BMC ecology. BioMed Central. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from https://bmcecol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12898-017-0122-3

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Alces alces gigas In The Wild and In Contact With Humans 

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Alces alces gigas In The Wild and In Contact With Humans 

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In the wild Alces alces gigas are the largest herbivores in their environment. They shape the environment they reside in through foraging, antler shedding, and compaction as they walk along game trails or the brush. Alces alces gigas generally consume between 40-60 lbs of vegetation a day with "50-99% of their diets from 1 genus (e.g., Salix)" (Shipley, 2022); Salix being the genus comprising of 300 species of deciduous trees and shrubs found worldwide. Due to their size and often standoffish behavior, not many organisms can prey upon Alces alces gigas. However, it is not unheard of for predators to take down one. Wolves [Canis lupus] and brown bears [Ursus arctos]) have been known to prey upon Alces alces gigas (Testa, 2004). The moose provide both of these species a with valuable food source and in turn the two species provide moose with a valuable regulatory agent to ward off unstable population growth. Moose have been described as being a vital part of an environment due to their role as the largest herbivore and as a large food source for the predator's that consume them. Moose tend to display a negative frequency dependence in the environments they inhabit, this is associated with more stable food web dynamics compared to fixed foraging strategies (Hoy, 2019). This means that Alces alces gigas are vital to their environment's and act as ecosystem stabilizers.
Moose and man have had a complex history and relationship. Moose used to be common sites pre European exploration but have since seen their numbers dwindle in much of their historic range. However in the case of Alces alces gigas less impact has been seem due to their more remote historic range. However this does not mean they are without impact, Alces alces gigas are frequently hunted across their territory but these are managed hunts by the US and Canadians governments respectively. The largest conflict between moose and man is vehicular collisions. With most WVCs in Alaska involving moose (McDonald, 2020) and the average Alaskan moose weighing upwards of 1500 pounds and standing at 6 foot at the shoulder the damage these collisions create can not be underestimated. However this is not an issue that goes unnoticed, in the state of Alaska it is common for most roads to have signs warning drivers of moose and to always drive with headlights on to help detect them (file:///C:/Users/James/Downloads/moose_vehicle_collisions_rack_card.pdf). Advertisement's like this are not uncommon throughout the state. The state of Alaska loves their moose and as someone who lives in Alaska part of the year I would say that Alces alces gigas is most definitely the states favorite animal. The government would agree with me as the Alaskan Moose is the states official animal! Alaskans are so prideful in their moose neighbors that they even have a moose poop festival held annually in the small town of Talkeetna. During the festival moose dropping's are examined, turned into jewelry, and even dropped from a helicopter onto a target in a unique spin on darts. (https://tedmuller.us/Outdoor/SpecialPlaces/060708-TalkeetnaMooseDroppingFestival.htm) This just shows how much Alces alces gigas is valued in the places it inhabits, a species as valuable to both ecosystems and human culture is one worth celebrating!

Citation(s):
Shipley, L. (n.d.). Fifty years of food and foraging in moose: Lessons in ecology from a model herbivore. Alces. Retrieved March 9, 2022, from https://www.alcesjournal.org/index.php/alces/article/view/56

Testa, W. (2004, May). Population Dynamics and life history trade‐offs of moose ... EsaJournals. Retrieved March 9, 2022, from https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/02-0671

Hoy, S. (2019). Negative frequency-dependent foraging behaviour in ... - wiley. Journal of Animal Ecology . Retrieved March 9, 2022, from https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.13031

McDonald, L. R., Messmer, T. A., & Guttery, M. R. (2020). Temporal variation of moose–vehicle collisions in Alaska. DigitalCommons@USU. Retrieved March 9, 2022, from https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/hwi/vol13/iss3/8/

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Alces alces gigas and The Human Encroachment Controversy

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Alces alces gigas and The Human Encroachment Controversy

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Although Alaskan moose are widely celebrated and even adored by most communities in their range, their size and danger posed to humans is not without notice. Many call for moose to be fenced out of human trafficed areas such as near towns or highways. However this often does not work and can create further hardships for the moose population. For example in the city of Anchorage, moose have been spotted roaming the streets eating decorative shrubs and bushes planted by the local human population as food is scarce during the winter (https://outsider.com/outdoors/hungry-moose-forced-into-alaska-capital-city-large-amounts-snow/). This is a man made problem as the moose were obviously displaced by humans and the humans are creating food sources that are almost irresistible to a moose in the winter. This has seen calls from locals to put down or relocate these moose that attempt to enter the city or simply find themselves lost in the unfamiliar environment. An even more widespread issue is that of moose being fragmented due to highway construction or moose fencing along highways. Although this fencing is seemingly a great idea to protect the moose and human populations from traffic collisions it poses a bigger issue for the moose as it fragments populations and isolates them genetically from the greater population. Although there is no easy answer to this issue one could come in the form of creating wildlife corridors such as bridges that reach above the highways to allow for moose passage while not hindering human traffic or trade.

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Watch Moose Fight in a Quiet Alaska Suburb | National Geographic

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Meaningful YouTube Video to Learn More on Moose Data Collection

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Meaningful YouTube Video to Learn More on Moose Data Collection

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In the attached video you can explore more about how moose are surveyed and examined in the field! This is a great video for anyone who is interested in Alces alces gigas reaserch or anyone who wants to explore a potential career working with Alaskan wildlife.

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Moose Survey in Northwest Alaska  Working for Wildlife

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My Experience with Alces alces gigas In Alaska

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My Experience with Alces alces gigas In Alaska

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To illustrate just how common Alces alces gigas is in Alaska and throughout the rest of their range I have a compellation of pictures and videos from the previous summer that I took and recorded. Take note of how real the moose and human conflict is when it comes to the proximity of moose to the roads!