Do moose come into New York by swimming across the St.Lawrence

Question

been there a lot but never seen it, but i heard thats why there have been moose sightings in new york recently

any truth to this?

please provide sources for cross-checking

Answer 1

Yes indeed, there are resident moose in upstate New York! I'm patiently waiting to see one in the wild (I live in a rural, forested part of the state.)

From the NY Department of Environmental Conservation link posted below, "Moose were common in New York centuries ago, when forests covered 95 percent of the landscape. They seemed to have disappeared in the 1860s largely due to agricultural habitat change and unregulated hunting. They did not appear again in the state until the 1980s."

Moose are good swimmers. It's entirely possible they crossed into NY from Canada in the 1980s but they've established themselves in the state since then.

Answer 2

They could.  Or walk over rivers wwhen frozen.  But there is no need to.  Moose were common in Upper New York until humans displaced or killed them.  There has always been of moose in the state;  they are making a comeback.