Caucasian moose
Extinct moose subspecies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Caucasian elk, also known as the Caucasian moose[1][2] (Alces alces caucasicus) is an extinct subspecies of elk (moose) found in the Black Sea and the Caucasus Mountains of Eastern Europe and Asia Minor, in modern-day European Russia, Armenia,[2] Azerbaijan, Georgia, and eastern Turkey and north and west Iran.
| Caucasian elk | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 1841 illustration of male | |
Extinct (1900) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Cervidae |
| Subfamily: | Capreolinae |
| Genus: | Alces |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | †A. a. caucasicus |
| Trinomial name | |
| †Alces alces caucasicus (Weretschagin, 1955) | |
Taxonomy
Extinction
The subspecies was quite common until the mid-19th century, when populations began to decrease due to overhunting. It became extinct sometime in the beginning of the 20th century.[2]
Predators
Among its likely predators were the Anatolian or Persian leopard (also called the Caucasus leopard), Asiatic black bear, Eurasian brown bear, steppe wolves, the Asiatic lion (now restricted to India's Gir Forest) and the now-extinct Caspian tiger;[2] The Eurasian lynx, golden eagles and the Asiatic cheetah—now restricted to Iran—all may have occasionally preyed on calves.