Seasonal moose migrations in Murmansk oblast, northwest Russia

Abstract

Abstract The author examines the phenomenon of seasonal migration of moose populations on the Kola Peninsula between summer range in tundra and forest‐tundra vegetation zones and wintering grounds in areas of forest vegetation to the south. Particular attention is devoted to a demarcation of broad tracks of winter migration, the identification of areas serving as wintering sites for large numbers of moose, as well as a description of the phenomenon of return northward migration in the spring. Comparison is made between the present range of the animal in Murmansk Oblast and that at the turn of the century.