Raising Baby Moose

Every year, as many as a dozen calves are left motherless near Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city. Zoos take some, while Moose Mamas and another group take the others. When the calves arrive, DeBernardi and her interns begin charting their growth daily.

Though the calves usually weigh only 25 to 35 pounds at first, they grow fast. Each calf can put on 5 percent of its body weight each day and grow nearly 5 inches taller every week. When DeBernardi releases them four months later, the moose weigh around 400 pounds. But first they eat lots—and lots—of food.

Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska. Every year, as many as a dozen calves are orphaned in the area. Zoos take in some of the baby moose. Moose Mamas and another group take care of the rest.

When the calves arrive, DeBernardi and her interns weigh and measure them. They repeat this every day. At first, the calves usually weigh only 25 to 35 pounds. But they start growing fast. Each calf can put on 5 percent of its body weight each day. They grow nearly 5 inches taller every week. When DeBernardi releases them four months later, the moose weigh around 400 pounds. But first they eat lots—and lots—of food.

At first, the team bottle-feed the calves a mixture of formula, water, and cow’s milk eight times a day. Every two weeks, DeBernardi decreases the number of bottles she gives to the calves by one, on track with how they would naturally wean, or stop drinking milk from their mothers. By the time Moose Mamas releases the calves, they’re down to one bottle a day.

The growing calves also eat leaves that DeBernardi and her team collect. Twice a day, the team load a trailer with vegetation called browse gathered from the roadside, where new sprouts attract moose that can get hit by oncoming traffic. “The younger the sprout, the more nutrition that it has,” says DeBernardi. Not only are the boughs a healthy food source but removing them from the highways reduces the risk of moose getting struck.

The team cuts branches from trees like willow, birch, aspen, cottonwood, and fireweed. Fireweed is a treat like cotton candy for moose. “At different times of the season, they prefer one food over the other. But we provide everything because they know instinctually what they need,” says DeBernardi.

In September, the team transports the calves to a remote area for release. Last year, DeBernardi and her team drove the moose 4.5 hours away, attached a collar tracking device on each, and opened their crates.

Later in the year, she’ll fly over the area to get a signal from the collars, which tell her where the moose are. Over the years, she’s seen adults that she saved when they were leggy calves, including big bulls with antlers and females with twins. “What’s pretty cool,” she says, “is seeing what was once a 25-pound little baby now a mom of her own.”       

At first, the team bottle-feeds the calves eight times a day. The bottles contain a mixture of formula, water, and cow’s milk. In the wild, moose calves gradually stop drinking milk from their mothers. So every two weeks, DeBernardi decreases the number of bottles per day by one. The calves drink only one bottle a day by the time they’re released.

The growing calves also eat leaves, twigs, and tree bark. DeBernardi and her team collect this vegetation from the side of the highway twice a day. Removing the most nutritious plants from the roadside also makes adult moose less likely to feed there. That reduces their risk of being hit by cars.

The team collects plants like willow, birch, aspen, cottonwood, and fireweed. Fireweed is an extra special treat for the moose. “At different times of the season, they prefer one food over the other,” says DeBernardi. “But we provide everything, because they know instinctually what they need.”

In September, the Moose Mamas get ready to release the calves. They transport the moose to a remote area. Last year, DeBernardi and her team drove the moose 4.5 hours away from Anchorage. They put a tracking collar on each moose, then opened the crates.

Later in the year, DeBernardi will fly over the area. A signal from the collars will tell her where the young moose are. She’s also seen adult moose that she saved when they were little—and some now have their own calves. “[It’s] pretty cool seeing what was once a 25-pound little baby now a mom of her own,” she says.