Moose have been visiting Alaskan towns for decades, but it's not because they crave an urban lifestyle or are especially fond of human attention -- they're just hungry. Moose feed mainly on vegetation like tree limbs, sedges and grasses, and when the Alaskan winters come and dump several feet of snow on the ground, their smorgasbord is all but obliterated.
Moose often consume up to 40 pounds (18 kilograms) of wood per day, but when that wood is covered in snow, they can easily end up losing a pound of body weight every 24 hours [source: AP]. Naturally, they head to town, where people, it seems, have cleared the roads for them. To further complicate matters, the Department of Transportation regularly cuts back new tree growth along roadsides, which has the unintended side effect of encouraging ample new growth and eventually attracting hungry moose like a magnet.
Picture thousands of hungry half-ton animals lumbering out of the woods and finding a veritable buffet of greens along the highway. Enter harried drivers fumbling with the radio dial, and you can easily see how the city of Anchorage manages to lose an average of 130 moose each winter [source: AP]. Elsewhere around Alaska, moose are just as unlucky. From July through December of 2006, collisions caused the deaths of 121 moose in the Matanuska-Susitna area and 138 deaths in the Kenai region [source: Hunter]. All told, the entire state loses an average of 600 moose each year [source: Alaska Moose Foundation].
The repercussions of those deaths are even more significant. Fifty percent of the moose killed by cars each year are cows and 40 percent are calves. Since a cow generally produces around 30 calves in her lifetime and half those calves are cows, it's as though thousands of moose are killed each year [source: Alaska Moose Foundation].
A significant portion of the drivers and passengers involved in moose-related car accidents miraculously survive the event. Unfortunately, the moose (and cars) aren't as lucky. Out of the 61 total accidents catalogued in 2008 (as of April 2008), 43 moose have been killed, while zero human fatalities have occurred [source: Alaska Department of Transportation].
To reduce the number of moose-car collisions on state roads, the Alaska Department of Transportation has installed fencing and lighting along high-incident areas. Although the improvements have reduced collisions in some areas by 80 to 90 percent, certain stretches of road can't be (or simply aren't) fenced off completely. Some roads have made Anchorage's top 10 list for moose-vehicle problematic issues [source: Hunter].
To further improve conditions, the DOT has teamed up with Alaska Moose Foundation to improve habitat and build diversionary trails to make the animals' own territory more inviting so they'll stay off state highways. Until then, if you're driving in Alaska, you might want to ease off the gas and keep your eyes peeled for a set of antlers in your headlights.
More Great Links
- "1996-2006 Moose-Related Fatalities and Major Injuries in Highway Crashes." Alaska Department of Transportation. (Aug. 22, 2008)http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwdplng/hwysafety/assets/graphs/1996- 2006_Moose_Fatalities_Major_Injuries.pdf
- "Alaska Moose Collision Tracker." Alaska Department of Transportation. 2008. (Aug. 22, 2008)http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwdplng/hwysafety/assets/2008_Moose_Collision_Tra cker.pdf
- "Alaska's Urban Moose Adjust to Heavy Snow." Associated Press. CBS News. Jan. 31, 2007. (Aug. 22, 2008)http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/31/tech/main2417996.shtml
- Clarke, Sarah. "Moose wreak havoc in Alaska." ABC News. June 5, 2007. (Aug. 22, 2008)http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/05/1942437.htm
- Hunter, Don. "Deep snow drives moose to Anchorages streets." Anchorage Daily News. Jan. 20, 2007. (Aug. 22, 2008)http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/wildlife/moose/story/151713.html
- "Moose Safety." Alaska Highway Safety Office. (Aug. 22, 2008)http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwdplng/hwysafety/moose.shtml
- Rausch, Robert A. and Bill Gasaway. "Moose." Alaska Department of Fish and Game. 1994. (Aug. 22, 2008)http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/biggame/moose.php
- "State and County Quick Facts." U.S. Census Bureau. July 25, 2008. (Aug. 22, 2008)http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/02000.html
- "The Alaska Moose Federation." 2007. (Aug. 22, 2008)http://www.growmoremoose.org/home.asp