Do you have 3:40 minutes? Listen instead of reading:
The moose* was documented as far back as in ancient Rome. At the time, moose roamed Germania and were described as animals without knee joints that had to lean against a tree to sleep. The hunting method was supposedly very simple: Germanic hunters just sawed into the trees making the moose topple over. The annual moose hunt in Sweden does not rely on sawing into trees although the many clear-cuts might suggest otherwise.
On 1 September, the season for Sweden’s largest event, the moose hunt, starts in Norrbotten, followed a little later by the other states. Some 250,000 hunters hit the forests across the entire nation to shoot 65,000 of the estimated 300,000 moose (2022).
Since the numbers of the moose’s main predators, wolves and bears, are controlled, the moose population used to grow steadily by about 30 percent per year. For more than ten years, however, the number of moose has been declining. The hunting quota is determined every year depending on the moose population.
Moose is not easy to hunt, neither for humans nor for predators. Wolves or bears need to run at top speeds of up to 60 km/h, while averting the dangerous hooves, which is why usually either very young or very old or sick animals fall prey to predators. Healthy animals are shot by humans, who are aided by dogs equipped with GPS.
The moose is one of the Germans’ favourite animals. Maybe because the last German mooses that lived in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania did not survive World War II or the return of individual animals is seen as a triumph over agricultural and cultural landscapes covering most of Germany. Or maybe just because it is such a quaint massive species.
Compared to its American relatives, the Scandinavian moose is relatively small at 7.5 feet shoulder height, but still large enough to be dangerous to humans. Moose cows with calves can be very protective and their hooves cause severe injuries. An moose cow with a calf is one of Sweden’s most dangerous animals.
Moose have bad eyesight, but excellent hearing as is easy to guess given their large ears. And they are excellent swimmers and divers that can even close their nostrils in order to dive for aquatic plants which, besides fresh buds, are among their favourite foods.
Moose are solitary animals, only interested in the opposite sex during rutting season in the autumn. This is when they come together in loose groups to start on the great moose trek. In the spring they wander into the mountains and in the autumn they migrate back towards the coastal pastures.
Moose cows chase their yearlings away in May before their new calves are born. These befuddled and disoriented young moose can often be seen at the side of the roads where they form loose groups with other cast-outs. Moose can reach an age of up to 27 years, but not in the wild, where 15 years is the maximum. If an moose has survived the annual moose hunt and is not among the roughly 3,500 road kills per year, it is relatively safe – unless it accidentally finds itself in a shoe shop or tries to get onto an escalator. This type of escapade is usually fatal.
*Note: Moose is the British term, while the Americans call this animal a moose. In America, an moose is a wapiti.
Text: Kirsten Stelling/Winterkurier 2024