Editing Moose (section)

===Europe and Asia===
[[File:Elk (Alces alces) calf Biebrzanski.jpg|thumb|''A. a. alces'' calf<br />Biebrzański Park Narodowy, Poland]]
[[File:Jakt på utstoppet elg.jpg|thumb|Staged picture of a moose hunt in [[Norway]], date unknown]]

In [[Europe]], moose are currently found in large numbers throughout [[Norway]], [[Sweden]], [[Finland]], [[Latvia]], [[Estonia]], [[Poland]], with more modest numbers in the southern [[Czech Republic]], [[Belarus]], and northern [[Ukraine]]. They are also widespread through [[Russia]] on up through the borders with Finland south towards the border with Estonia, Belarus and Ukraine and stretching far away eastwards to the [[Yenisei River]] in [[Siberia]]. The European moose was native to most temperate areas with suitable habitat on the continent and even [[Scotland]] from the end of the last Ice Age, as Europe had a mix of temperate boreal and deciduous forest. Up through Classical times, the species was certainly thriving in both Gaul and [[Magna Germania]], as it appears in military and hunting accounts of the age. However, as the Roman era faded into medieval times, the beast slowly disappeared: soon after the reign of [[Charlemagne]], the moose disappeared from [[France]], where its range extended from Normandy in the north to the Pyrenees in the south. Farther east, it survived in [[Alsace]] and the [[Netherlands]] until the 9th century as the marshlands in the latter were drained and the forests were cleared away for feudal lands in the former. It was gone from [[Switzerland]] by the year 1000, from the western Czech Republic by 1300, from [[Mecklenburg]] in [[Germany]] by c. 1600, and from Hungary and the Caucasus since the 18th and 19th century, respectively.

By the early 20th century, the last strongholds of the European moose appeared to be in Fennoscandian areas and patchy tracts of Russia, with a few migrants found in what is now Estonia and [[Lithuania]]. The USSR and Poland managed to restore portions of the range within its borders (such as the 1951 reintroduction into [[Kampinos National Park]] and the later 1958 reintroduction in Belarus), but political complications limited the ability to reintroduce it to other portions of its range. Attempts in 1930 and again in 1967 in marshland north of Berlin were unsuccessful. At present in Poland, populations are recorded in the [[Biebrza]] river valley, Kampinos, and in [[Białowieża Forest]]. It has migrated into other parts of Eastern Europe and has been spotted in eastern and southern Germany.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Schnfeld |first= Fiona |title= Presence of moose (Alces alces) in Southeastern Germany |journal=European Journal of Wildlife Research |volume=55 |issue= 4 |page=449 |year=2009 |doi= 10.1007/s10344-009-0272-5|bibcode= 2009EJWR...55..449S |s2cid= 30772675 }}</ref><ref name=spieg120903/> Unsuccessful thus far in recolonizing these areas via natural dispersal from source populations in [[Poland]], [[Belarus]], [[Ukraine]], [[Czech Republic]], and [[Slovakia]], it appears to be having more success migrating south into the [[Caucasus]]. It is listed under Appendix III of the Bern Convention.<ref name=":0">{{cite iucn |author=Heikki Henttonen |author2=Andreas Kranz |author3=Michael Stubbe |author4=Tiit Maran |author5=Alexei Tikhonov |year=2007 |title=''Alces alces'' ssp. ''alces'' (Europe assessment) |volume=2007 |page=e.T41782A10539156 |doi= |access-date=7 July 2024}}</ref><ref>"[http://www.thelocal.de/society/20091002-22315.html Wayward elk 'Knutschi' found dead – The Local] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514111525/http://www.thelocal.de/society/20091002-22315.html |date=2011-05-14 }}". Thelocal.de. Retrieved on January 9, 2011.</ref>

In 2008, two moose were reintroduced into the [[Scottish Highlands]]<ref name=GlenMooseBBC>{{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Euq1KEgysKg |title= Re-Introducing Moose to the Glen – Moose – BBC |via= YouTube |date= April 24, 2009 |access-date= November 27, 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090429015044/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Euq1KEgysKg |archive-date= April 29, 2009 |url-status= live |df= dmy-all }}</ref><ref name=telegraph>{{cite news |title=Moose to roam free again in Scotland |first1=Auslan |last1=Cramb |first2=Paul |last2=Eccleston |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3339404/Moose-to-roam-free-again-in-Scotland.html |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=April 14, 2008 |access-date=August 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127184812/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3339404/Moose-to-roam-free-again-in-Scotland.html |archive-date=January 27, 2010 }}</ref> in [[Alladale Wilderness Reserve]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.alladale.com/wilderness-reserve/highland-flora--fauna/european-elk---alces-alces.html |title= European Elk - ''Alces alces'' |publisher= Alladale Wilderness Reserve |access-date= August 7, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120119054359/http://www.alladale.com/wilderness-reserve/highland-flora--fauna/european-elk---alces-alces.html |archive-date= January 19, 2012 }}</ref> The moose disappeared as a breeding species from Denmark about 4,500 years ago (in the last century, a very small number have lived for periods in [[Zealand]] without establishing a population after swimming across the [[Øresund]] from Sweden),<ref>{{cite web | title=Elg | url=https://pattedyratlas.lex.dk/Elg | year=2007 | publisher=Dansk Pattedyratlas | access-date=16 January 2023 | archive-date=16 January 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116185413/https://pattedyratlas.lex.dk/Elg | url-status=live }}</ref> but in 2016–17 ten were introduced to [[Lille Vildmose]] from Sweden. In 2020, this population had increased to about 25 animals.<ref>{{cite news | title=Elge formerer sig lystigt: Tre nye elgkalve i Vildmosen | url=https://nordjyske.dk/nyheder/aalborg/elge-formerer-sig-lystigt-tre-nye-elgkalve-i-vildmosen/a27e64e2-43bd-4c9f-95f2-11da6706d6b6 | date=2 June 2020 | publisher=Nordjyske | access-date=16 January 2023 | archive-date=29 January 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129140907/https://nordjyske.dk/nyheder/aalborg/elge-formerer-sig-lystigt-tre-nye-elgkalve-i-vildmosen/a27e64e2-43bd-4c9f-95f2-11da6706d6b6 | url-status=live }}</ref>

The East Asian moose populations confine themselves mostly to the territory of [[Russia]], with much smaller populations in [[Mongolia]] and Northeastern [[China]]. Moose populations are relatively stable in [[Siberia]] and increasing on the [[Kamchatka Peninsula]]. In Mongolia and China, where [[poaching]] took a great toll on moose, forcing them to near extinction, they are protected, but enforcement of the policy is weak and demand for traditional medicines derived from deer parts is high.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} In 1978, the Regional Hunting Department transported 45 young moose to the center of Kamchatka. These moose were brought from [[Chukchi Peninsula|Chukotka]], home to the largest moose on the planet. Kamchatka now regularly is responsible for the largest trophy moose shot around the world each season. As it is a fertile environment for moose, with a milder climate, less snow, and an abundance of food, moose quickly bred and settled along the valley of the [[Kamchatka River]] and many surrounding regions. The population in the past 20 years has risen to over 2,900 animals.

The size of the moose varies. Following [[Bergmann's rule]], population in the south (''A. a. cameloides'') usually grow smaller, while moose in the north and northeast (''A. a. buturlini'') can match the imposing sizes of the Alaskan moose (''A. a. gigas'') and are prized by [[trophy hunter]]s.