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Age-specific moose (Alces alces) mortality in apredator-free environment: Evidence for senescence in females

Abstract We tested whether the ungulate moose (Alces alces) showed senescence in survival. Senescence, i.e., a progressive deterioration with age, may be obscured by multiple mortality causes in a wild population. Thus, we followed radio-marked individuals of known age to separate different mortality causes in adult moose. The risk of dying of causes not linked to humans increased with age. For females, the increase in natural mortality was first observable after age 10. Tooth wear was significantly related to age for both sexes, but was stronger for males. It suggests that males would experience senescence in survival earlier than females in a non-hunted population. The senescence in mortality observed for female moose may be a result of delayed cost of reproduction acting in concert with tooth wear due to a reduced ability to process food. We also found an increase in hunting mortality with age for both sexes, with males facing a higher risk of dying than females. The age-related hunting mortality may be a result of selectivity by the human predator, or a change in moose behaviour with age.