European moose; Berlin Tierpark; 9th September 2011

In America we call these moose, but I was under the impression that Europeans call them elk? (Which is the name Americans give to wapiti). Am I wrong?

Arizona Docent said:

In America we call these moose, but I was under the impression that Europeans call them elk? (Which is the name Americans give to wapiti). Am I wrong?

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No you're not wrong; the word 'elk' can cause confusion so I avoid using the word to prevent any misunderstanding.

This has been discussed on several threads including here:-

http://www.zoochat.com/2/moose-elk-122886/

@Arizona Docent: Yes and no. I can't speak for all european nations. But: There is allways a confusion between these two species at least in german speaking countries (Germany, Austria, biggest part of Switzerland). The german name for Alces alces = (american? english for moose) is "Elch", which sounds very similar to Elk.
For Cervus canadensis = (american? english for elk) the germans use the term Wapiti (although I presume that the word wapiti comes from an american native language).

To make it more complicated: In the times, where the elk/wapiti was designated as a subspecies of the red deer, the term wapiti in Germany was not only used for North American (sub-)species but occasionally also for some East Asian (sub-)species (e.g. Altaimaral = Altaiwapiti), while the varieties from Europe were allways red deer (german: Rothirsch, e.g. Central European red deer, Iberian red deer).

**'ELK' THREAD KLAXON** **'ELK' THREAD KLAXON** **'ELK' THREAD KLAXON**




(I agree with Tim! 'Elk' is unnecessarily confusing when all the taxa have perfectly good, long-standing alternative common names.)

I only use "elk" to refer to Megaloceros giganteus myself.