The official figures are in from Norway’s annual moose hunt, and the number of the large animals shot increased the most in the country’s northern counties. Hedmark, however, continues to top the statistics.
Hunters in the large eastern county of Hedmark, which runs along the Swedish border, shot around 8,000 moose during the hunt that began last fall. All told, 36,400 moose wound up as hunters’ trophies, far short of the quota allowed.
Wildlife conservation officials had granted permission for hunters to shoot just over 45,000 moose, not least to reduce their population. State statistics bureau SSB said the percentage of animals shot in relation to the quota was 81 percent, the same as for the past three years.
Meanwhile, a moose in Tromsø got into trouble last week, and was rescued by two local conservation officials. The moose apparently had tried to climb a steep hillside, lost its footing in the snow and slid down the slope, landing between a few pine trees where it got stuck.
The two men from Viltnemnda, the local wildlife agency, arrived with chainsaws and cut down enough of the trees to free the moose, a cow who made it clear she was most unhappy. When finally freed, the exhausted moose also needed a push to get over a snowbank, before she sauntered off without much sign of gratitude, reported newspaper VG.
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