Moose (Alces alces) is the North American name for the largest extant species in the deer family. The same animal is called the Elk in Europe. The name moose is derived from the Algonquian Eastern Abnaki name moz, meaning "he trims, shaves". Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a "twig-like" configuration. In North America, Elk refers to the second largest deer species, Cervus canadensis.

Moose typically inhabit boreal and mixed deciduous forests of the Northern Hemisphere in temperate to subarctic climates.

In North America, the Moose range includes almost all of Canada, most of central and western Alaska, much of New England and upstate New York, the upper Rocky Mountains, Northeastern Minnesota, and Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Isle Royale in Lake Superior. Isolated moose populations have been verified as far south as the mountains of Utah and Colorado. In 1978 a few breeding pairs were introduced in western Colorado, and the state's moose population is now more than 1,000.

In Europe, Moose are found in large numbers throughout Norway, Sweden and Finland. They are also widespread through Russia.

Moose were successfully introduced on the island of Newfoundland in 1904 where they are now the dominant ungulate, and somewhat less successfully on Anticosti Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Ten moose were also introduced in Fiordland, New Zealand in 1910, but they were thought to have died off. Nevertheless, there have been reported sightings that were thought to be false until moose hair samples were found by a New Zealand scientist in 2002. In 2008 Moose (or Elk) were reintroduced in to the Scottish Highlands.

The male's antlers grow as cylindrical beams projecting on each side at right angles to the midline of the skull, which after a short distance divide in a fork-like manner. The lower prong of this fork may be either simple, or divided into two or three tines, with some flattening.