Are moose, elk?

[Lord Farquhar]

I have been looking at photos of both.
Some guides say they are the same animal i.e. http://www.ultimateungulate.com/Artiodactyla/Alces_alces.html

But looking at photos i am not utterly convinced

MOOSE

ELK

Elk look more like deer.
Can some one clarify this for me?

Mozzy

 

[Wayland]

The problem is terminology.

Over the pond the colonials call Elk - Moose and Red deer - Elk

These were certainly the same species before continental drift separated the populations.

They also call Reindeer - Caribou or some such.

 

[Carcajou Garou]

Wayland is right, moose has an aboriginal root "moozze" and what we call elk is also called "wapiti". We still use a lot of aboriginal names for our animals they may vary from region to region or as moose and wapiti go continent wide, cariboo is our term for reindeer, Though I am no sure that wapiti and your red deer are the same, colour and sizebody style seem different?

 

[Wayland]

In fairness Red deer are Cervus elaphus and Wapiti are Cervus canadensis but I believe the differences are mainly down to colouring.

 

[Abbe Osram]

They are not! There are two different animals.
Moose hide is very strong close in fiber structure, while Elk, even if it is much thicker than deer skin, its very weak because of its open fibre structure.

Cheers
Abbe

 

[Wayland]

Abbe.

What you call Elk and the Americans call Elk are not the same beast which is the cause of the confusion.

American Moose Alces alces and Eurasian Elk Alces alces are the same but as a leatherworker I find there is a great deal of confusion about the skins.

American Elk Cervus canadensis and Eurasian Elk Alces alces are different so Elk hide if it is from Cervus canadensis is much different from Eurasian Elk Alces alces hide.

 

[Abbe Osram]

Lets see:

What we hunt here called "Älgen" (swedish) and "Elch" (german) is the "Alces alces) the Moose.

It looks like this:

The american elk has nothing to do with the Elch or Älgen it is a Wapiti which we have only a very few in sweden I believe in some private hunting grounds.

It looks like this:

The skin is very different even if the wapiti (Elk) is very heavy it is not very strong because of the loosness of its fiber structure. It is hard to work with but has less strengh than a average deer hide. So if you want to make some shoes take only the hide from the Älgen= Moose = Alces alces.

hope that helps
cheers
Abbe