What is the difference between a moose and an elk, and between a reindeer and a caribou.?

Question

I know Americans call the Wapiti an Elk but I'm talking about Alces alces..the biggest deer in the world.

Pikayoope..you are talking about the American elk..which we call the Wapiti
(cervus elaphus )which is the same family as our red deer.

The European Elk is also Alces Alces..
this is why I want to know if the moose and the european(NOT AMERICAN) Elk are the same.

Answer 1

Moose, common name for the largest member of the deer family. The name moose, given by the Algonquin, a native North American tribe, means “eater of twigs,” reflecting the animal’s primary diet of leaves and twigs. Moose are referred to as elk in Europe and Asia, where they inhabit the forests of northern Asia and Europe from Siberia in the east to Norway in the west, the Baltic region, and northern China. In North America moose are found in wooded areas of Canada and the northern United States. The deer known in North America as elk is also called wapiti.

Moose are huge animals, with males, known as bulls, standing up to 2 m (6.5 ft) at the shoulder. Some bulls weigh more than 726 kg (1600 lb). Their characteristically long legs enable them to both browse on low bushes and small trees and wade in lakes and ponds to feed on aquatic plants. Once in the water, moose move easily and are powerful swimmers.

The head of the moose is large with an overhanging upper lip, or muzzle. A drooping growth of hair and skin, called a bell, hangs from the throat. The large, constantly moving ears of the moose act like radar, providing excellent hearing. A large shoulder hump is formed by the upward projections from neck vertebrae. Strong ligaments, which are necessary to hold the large head erect, are attached to these upward projections. The body color of the moose is generally brownish-black, with the face lightening to a brown color in the summer. The face of bulls darkens to a dark brown or black color as the breeding season approaches.

Prominent features of bulls are the enormous antlers with marginal prongs, or tines, which can exceed 1.5 m (60 in) in width and 22.7 kg (50 lb) in weight. Antlers are covered with a soft, nutrient-rich skin called velvet, which is shed in early September and often eaten by bulls. Antlers themselves are shed each year after the mating season, which generally is in late September. Older bulls shed their antlers in December, and by the end of January most bulls have shed their antlers. Occasionally, some young ones will carry antlers into February. New antlers begin to grow in early April.

Moose generally are solitary animals, although they may band in small groups of up to a dozen or more during the breeding season, especially in Canada’s Yukon territory and Alaska. Both females and males are capable of mating in their second year of life. During mating, bulls battle for the female moose, or cows, engaging in antler fights with other males. After mating, gestation is around 230 days, with most calves born near the end of May. Cows usually bear one offspring, although twins are common and births of three or four calves have also been observed. Calves have reddish-brown coats and weigh 11 to 16 kg (24 to 35 lb) at birth.

The average life span of moose is about 5 to 6 years, although some moose can live as long as 20 years. The age of a moose is determined by examining the root portion of the middle incisor teeth, which show a pattern of rings. Just as a tree’s growth rings reveal its age, the dark ring in a moose’s middle incisor combined with a light ring accounts for each year of age.

Moose feeding habits vary with the seasons. During the fall, winter, and spring, they feed on the previous summer’s growth of aspen, black poplar, willow, birch, hazel, dogwood, and balsam fir. In late spring and early summer, moose lick natural salt deposits, found in salt springs or roadside runoff to replenish their mineral reserves used up over winter. In summer, moose prefer vegetation that grows in water, and they can submerge for up to 40 seconds to reach plants beneath the water’s surface.

Despite their size and ability to attain running speeds of up to 58 km/h (36 mph) for short distances, moose fall prey to wolves and black and grizzly bears. Some studies have shown that bears can kill up to 75 percent of newborns in their first eight weeks of life. Another threat to moose is the winter tick. Tick infestations irritate the moose’s skin, causing the moose to rub off portions of the hair they depend on for protection from the extreme winter cold, which typifies much of their habitat. Severe winters combined with heavy tick infestations can reduce moose populations as much as 50 percent.

While...

Wapiti, also American elk, ruminant mammal native to the northern part of the western hemisphere from southern Canada to northern Mexico, and conspecific with the red deer of Europe, northwestern Africa, and Asia. It has dark brown fur on the head and neck, and creamy gray fur on the back and flanks. A full-grown stag stands up to 1.5 m (up to 4.9 ft) high at the shoulder, and weighs up to 340 kg (up to 750 lb). The antlers are smooth and attain a great size, averaging more than 1.2 m (more than 4 ft) each in length. The antlers are shed in March, begin to grow again in late spring, and are fully grown by fall. Wapiti graze and browse on grasses, twigs, and leaves.

The wapiti formerly ranged throughout the temperate regions of the western hemisphere, but the advance of civilization limited its range and caused huge herds to be slaughtered for food and sport. The animal is now largely restricted to the mountainous areas of the western United States and Canada. The stags live alone or in small groups apart from the main herd during most of the year, joining the herd only during the mating season. At this time the stags fight over the right to the females, accompanying these fights with a braying call. In late spring some populations of wapiti leave the lowlands and migrate to the upper reaches of the mountain forests. The doe bears a single fawn. The animal known in Europe as the elk is known in North America as the moose.

Reindeer, common name for a deer native to the subarctic and arctic regions of Europe and Asia. Unlike other deer, both the male and female bear antlers. The antlers of the male are long, branched, and slightly flattened at the tips; the brow tines are well developed. The antlers of the female are smaller and simpler.

Reindeer are sturdy, short-legged animals, having a brownish coat that is dark in the summer and light in winter; the long hairs under the neck, the fur just above the hooves, and the region about the tail are almost white. Reindeer range in height from 87 to 140 cm (34 to 55 in) tall at the shoulder. The animals have large, spreading hooves that enable them to travel on snow-covered areas. They feed on vegetation such as grasses, leaves, mosses, and lichens, obtained by scraping away the snow cover with their antlers and hooves.

For many centuries reindeer have been domesticated in their original habitat, which ranges from Norway into northern Asia. They have been trained to wear harnesses and draw sleds. In addition to their strength, speed, and endurance in pulling sleds over snow, they are also valuable for their milk, flesh, and hides. After they were introduced as economically valuable animals into Alaska in 1887, they thrived so well that they were later introduced into Labrador and northern Newfoundland. These North American forms of reindeer are called caribou.

Scientific classification: The moose is a member of the deer family, Cervidae, and is classified as Alces alces.

Answer 2

All you listed are in the same family- Cervidae

Alces alces is called a moose in the US. Moose have the long scooping antlers. They are larger and more dangerous. Also usually solitary.

Elk (Cervus elaphis) is also called the Red Deer in Europe. Their antlers are more shaped like the typical deer with forks and no noticeable scoop. They are usually more of a herd animal (at least in the US), like the caribou/reindeer, but usually the herd is a lot smaller.

Reindeer and caribou are the same exact animal - Rangifer tarandus. They have the shovel out front antlers, and are found in the northern ranges of Canada, Alaska, and Russia.

Answer 3

They are all in the deer family.

Moose are much larger than elk - moose are bigger than a cow. Their habits are different too, elk love large open lands and are social animals. Moose stick to the woods and swamps as a rule. They are a bit more aquatic.

Caribou and reindeer are the same animal. They are much akin to the elk.