Swedes bring in shoot-to-kill policy to cut moose numbers

Published on Tuesday 1 September 2009 22:07

SWEDISH authorities have launched a "shoot to kill" policy against the country's rising moose population in an effort to cut the number of road accidents – many of them fatal – the hefty beasts are causing.

Under the policy, once a vehicle collision with a moose is reported, local hunters will now track down the animal involved and shoot it.

The new campaign comes as recent figures show the number of road accidents involving moose has leaped by 22 per cent from 1,812 in 2008 to 2,201 during the first half of this year.

Over the past five years, 42 people have been killed on the road in collisions with moose and nearly 2,000 people have been injured.

A fully grown adult male moose can weigh more than 500kg.

Sweden's Forestry Agency said road accidents have increased as a direct result of the growth of in recent years of the moose population. Sweden now has an estimated 300,000 moose, known in the country as the king of the forest.

"The majority of road accidents in Sweden are now caused by collisions with large wild animals," said Lars Svberger, director of Sweden's national Wildlife Accident Council, Nationalle Viltolycksradet.

"The new shoot-to-kill and cull campaign this year is aimed at stemming the surge in road accidents and damaged forests which has come about as a result of the growing moose population," said Daniel Lign, Sweden's deputy game officer and member of the Sweden's hunting association, Jgarefrbundet.

"We aim to increase the shooting of moose to about 50,000 calves and 50,000 adults between September and January during the hunting season," he said.

The carcases will not go to waste – moose meat is used for roasting and to make meatballs, and hunters can sell a culled moose for up to 1,700.

More than ninety accidents a day on Sweden's roads involve collisions with wild animals but authorities are chiefly concerned with moose because they cause the most damage.

Car hire companies are now providing customers with leaflets which alert passengers to the risk of fatal injuries in collisions with wild animals.

Meanwhile, the rapid growth in moose population in Sweden means more trees are damaged and increasingly under threat.

"There is clear threat to biodiversity. Numerous tree species like aspens, pines and oaks which moose feed off are being destroyed. The damage done is already very high. We are heading towards a mono-culture where the Norwegian spruce Christmas tree will predominate," warned Christer Kaln, a leading moose expert at Sweden's Forestry Agency.

Mr Lign told of a miraculous escape when a moose collided with his car.

"There was a big bang. It was traumatic. It was dark and I had not seen the moose coming. My car had to be scrapped as a result of the impact of the moose on my windscreen. The moose died immediately, so at least I did not have to shoot it," Mr Lign said.