Late-winter activity patterns of moose ( Alces alces gigas ) in western Alaska

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Gillingham, Michael P., Klein, David R.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1992
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Midwinter; Alces alces; Seward Peninsula; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z92-044; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z92-044

Activity patterns of free-ranging moose (Alces alces gigas) on the central Seward Peninsula were polyphasic but not highly synchronized among individuals from March through May 1987. Female–calf pairs, however, showed nearly identical activity patterns (92.6% of 2353 five-minute scans). Based on data collected between 06:00 and 24:00, we estimate that moose exhibit ~5 or 6 active bouts per 24-h period. Our direct observations of moose (980 moose-h) showed that moose were active 57.2% of the time from 06:00 to 24:00. Inactive bouts lasted ~2.5 times longer than active bouts. Calves tended to lie for longer [Formula: see text] than adult females (143.1 ± 15.5 min) or males (109.0 ± 17.9 min). Time budgets for moose in late winter were intermediate between values reported in previous studies for moose in midwinter and late spring. Our data showed that moose spend much more time walking (8%) than previously reported. We think this reflects their use of the snow-packed river and gravel bars as movement and feeding corridors. Direct observations of moose showed that many active and inactive bouts were less than 10 min in duration; these bouts are not detected by most telemetric systems. We also present evidence that without predation in winter, ambient conditions (e.g., operative temperature) may cause synchrony in the activity patterns of individual moose in northwestern Alaska.