MOOSE HOME RANGE FIDELITY AND CORE AREA CHARACTERISTICS IN SOUTH-CENTRAL MONTANA

• Main Authors: Van Dyke, Fred, Probert, Brenda L., Van Beek, Grant M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Lakehead University 1995
• Subjects: Alces alces
• Online Access: http://alcesjournal.org/index.php/alces/article/view/883

Long-term studies of animal home range are important to determine the stability of such ranges, their activity centers, and characteristics of core use. We estimated home range sizes, range fidelity, and core area use of 11 radio-collared Shiras moose (Alces alces shirasi) in south-central Montana from 9 January 1989 to 16 August 1993. Respective mean winter-spring and summer-autumn home range size was 12.3 km2 and 15.2 km2 for males and 21.2 km2 and 16.3 km2 for females. Mean annual home range size for males and females was 22.2 km2 and 26.6 km2, respectively. Moose used home ranges in non-uniform patterns with well-defined core areas. Moose generally remained faithful to seasonal and annual ranges in successive years, though 2 individuals showed evidence of changes in utilization within established home range boundaries. Moose in this population would likely benefit from long-term, intensive management of heavily used areas than from extensive management of larger areas.