Caucasian moose

The Caucasian moose, also known as the Caucasian elk is an extinct subspecies of moose found in the Black Sea and the Caucasus Mountains of Eastern Europe and Asia Minor, in modern-day European Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and eastern Turkey and north and west Iran.

Taxonomy

The subspecies was first described by in 1955. In 1999, Danilkin questioned whether they were sufficiently distinct from A. a. alces to merit a separate subspecies.

Extinction

The subspecies was quite common until the mid-19th century, when populations began to decrease due to overhunting. It became extinct sometime in the beginning of the 20th century.

Predators

Among its likely predators were the Anatolian or Persian leopard, Asiatic black bear, Eurasian brown bear, steppe wolves, the Asiatic lion and the now-extinct Caspian tiger; The Eurasian lynx, golden eagles and the Asiatic cheetah—now restricted to Iran—all may have occasionally preyed on calves.