Moose (Eurasian elk)

Moose are the largest members of the deer family, a group that also includes caribou, elk and white tailed deer.  But unlike the other deer species, moose are usually solitary animals, preferring to live alone. They are also one of the largest land mammals in North America.

Moose love in the United States and Canada. They also live in parts of northern Europe and Asia, where they are called elk.

A moose makes its ho0me in and near the forests, swamps and bodies of water found in these regions. Moose habitat has to heave leafy trees and freshwater. It also has to have cold weather.

Moose have large bodies and heads. They are more than 6 feet tall. They have lumps on their shoulders. Their legs are long and thin. Moose’s front legs are longer than their back legs. In winter, a moose’s long legs help it move though deep snow. Moose can even run in deep snow.

A moose can weigh from 600 to 1800 pounds. Just one moose could weigh more than 20 children. Despite its huge size and weight, the moose is very agile.
Moose (Eurasian elk)

Blastocerus dichotomus or Marsh deer

The South American marsh deer, like the Asiatic swamp deer, is large and has specialized legs. Marsh deer prefer to be in or near standing water not more than 60 cm deep, with low cover such as reeds or bunch-grasses nearby. They avoid dense forest.

It is the largest native deer of South America (male 110 kg, female 70 kg), with males reaching a height of up to 115 cm.

Marsh deer occupies floodplains with tall grass, bushes and clumps of forest along the Rio Parana and in Paraguay.  It is listed as an endangered species but it occurs at high populations densities in the Pantanal.

Numbers and distribution have declined substantially through loss of habitat to agriculture, marsh drainage, controlled hunting and transmission of disease from domestic livestock.

During the rainy season, when the grassland are flooded the deer are forced onto a limited amount of high patches of ground from where cattle are likely to displace them and will outcompete them for  limited forage, causing mortality if the floods are usually prolonged or the islands too small.

It lives alone in small groups, reproduces year-round, is dusk and dawn active, hides in dense vegetation, has an explosive getaway, and runs with its tail raised, similar to white tailed deer.
Blastocerus dichotomus or Marsh deer