Moose SVG is a mammal that belongs to a group of ungulates, ruminants, the family of reindeer, the genus of elk (lat. Alces).
Moose SVG is the largest member of the reindeer family. The height of moose in the hills is 1.70 to 2.35 m, the body length reaches 3 m, and the weight, depending on the sex, varies from 300 to 600 kg and more. Some sources indicate a maximum moose weight of 825 kg. Males are usually larger than females in size. Females weigh about 200-490 kg.
Moose SVG are a little clumsy in appearance: tall, short-bodyed, high-legged. They have a powerful chest and shoulders. Moose legs are long, not thin, with narrow, long hooves. The tail is short, but noticeable. The head is heavy, up to 500 mm long, hump-bearing. There are big, very mobile ears on the head, the bloated upper lip hangs over the lower one, and under the throat there is a soft leathery growth, “earring”, 25 – 40 cm long.
Moose SVG hair consists of coarser, longer hairs and a soft undercoat. In winter the hair grows up to 10 cm long. Hair is longer, in the form of a mane, on the hobby and neck and reaches 20 cm, which makes it seem that the animal has a hump. The softer coat growing on the head covers even the lips of the mammal, but on the upper lip between the nostrils there is a small bare area.
The elk has a brownish black or black color in the upper part of the body, which turns brown in the lower part of the body. The back of the body, groats and buttocks are as colored as the rest of the body: the so-called tail mirror is missing. The lower part of the legs is white. In summer, the coloration of moose is darker than in winter. The tail length of the animal is 12-13 cm.
The front teeth of the upper jaw of the elk are missing, but they are compensated by 8 incisors on the lower jaw. The animals also have 6 pairs of molars (molars) and 6 pairs of premolars (small molars), which serve for chewing food.
Moose SVG swim well (can swim up to 20km) and run pretty fast. Moose speed reaches 55 km/h.
Moose have the largest horns of all mammals. They reach a height of 180 cm and weigh up to 20 kg. The horn consists of a short trunk and a wide, flat, slightly concave shovel, which is bordered by up to 18 branches. The number of shoots, their length and the size of the shovel itself vary among moose of different ages. The older the moose, the more powerful its horns, the wider its shovel, and the shorter its branches. Young moose only have small horns one year after birth.
Initially, moose horns are soft, covered with soft skin and wool. Inside the horns there are blood vessels, so the young animal’s horns can get sick when they are bitten by insects and bleed when they are wounded, which naturally causes pain. A year and 2 months after the birth of the animal horns harden, the blood supply in them stops. In the fifth year of life moose horns (antlers) become big, powerful and heavy: the shovel becomes wider, and the branches on it are shorter.