The moose population in the four northernmost counties has, according to SLU’s calculations, decreased on average by a third, and in some places halved, since the new moose administration was introduced in 2012.
“The decrease is primarily a result of a deliberate lowering of the population through hunting, to try to reduce forest damage. The elk is not threatened, but it is not possible to continue shooting as many elk,” says Fredrik Widemo, wildlife researcher at SLU, in a press release.
The project is to be implemented in 2023–2027 in Jämtland, Västernorrland, Västerbotten and Norrbotten and is a collaboration between SLU, the county administrations in northern Sweden, the Swedish Hunters’ Association and the forest companies.
SLU has previously mapped how moose affect their habitat, including how they move and how their grazing affects forest growth and biological diversity. Now the studies are to be expanded in order to better show how the moose in the area are doing.
“We will supplement the research that is already being carried out with studies of the moose population’s age composition, reproduction, size, weight, energy resources and stress hormones. At the same time, we will carry out even more detailed studies of what the moose ate,” says Fredrik Widemo.