Estimation of Abundance and Distribution of Moose Population in China

The geographical distribution and the abundance of Moose (Alces alces) population were studied in Northeastern China between 1985 and 1987, 309 trails on the snow crossing the 2, 446km sampling lines were counted. The Moose range had been shrunked to northwest for 100–200 km since 1976, and at present they covered an area about 190,000 km2. The densities varied from 0.0187 Mooses/km2 to 0.1226 Mooses/km2 and the average was 0.0519 Mooses/km2. The Moose population size was 9, 955 ± 397 Mooses (α = 0.2, P = 84.5%), about 7000 of them was distributed in Daxinganling Mountains and the others were in Xiaoxinganling Mountains. The present population had decreased to 53.4% in 1976, and the annual decrease rate was 6.27%. At present, Moose population is likely rare in China and should be strictly protected.