For Juvenile Moose, Momma’s Boys and Girls Fare Best August 24,
2012 If you’re a young moose trying to make it in the real
world, you can’t beat an overprotective mother. While it’s true
that for countless animals, from elk to fish to lizards, the
bigger the baby, the better its survival odds—body size isn’t
much help when it comes to orphaned moose. A new study by WCS
conservation biologist Dr. Joel Berger emphasizes the importance
maternal protection plays in a young moose’s development. Berger
conducted his fieldwork over the course of 10 years in the
Tetons of Wyoming. He found that during their first winters,
orphaned moose are subjected to as much as 47 percent more
aggression from adults compared to their counterparts with
mothers present. Berger witnessed specific threats to orphaned
moose—displacement from feeding areas and kicking by adult
females—and theorizes that orphans incur greater metabolic costs
and expend more energy in deep snow. He suspects that mothers
take pains to preserve resources fo