Moose Under Fire in Sweden: Shoot to Kill and Cull Campaign
Officials in Sweden have introduced a shoot to kill and cull campaign in an effort to reduce the amount of vehicle accidents and damage to forests due to the growing number of moose in the country. 42 people have been killed and almost 2,000 people have been injured in road collisions involving moose over the past five years.
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Moose Shoot-to-Kill Campaign
According to the Scotsman, officials report more than 90 collisions involving wildlife occur each day on Sweden’s roadways. More than 2,500 moose-vehicles collisions have occurred so far in 2009 according to statistics from the National Wild Accident Council, on behalf of the National Police. The report also shows more than 18,000 collisions with deer occurred during the same time frame. A total of 23,000 wildlife-vehicle collisions have occurred so far this year.
The new shoot to kill campaign allows local hunters to track down a moose and shoot it after it has been involved in a vehicle collision.
Moose Cull Campaign
The cull campaign will also reduce forest damage created by the moose. Aspen, pine and oak trees are being destroyed by the moose, according to an expert at Sweden’s Forest Agency.
With a moose population of nearly 300,000, the cull campaign will include shooting up to 50,000 calves and 50,000 adults during hunting season, between September and January. Culled moose can be sold for up to £1,700, about $2,700 US.
Photo moose crossing John J. Mosesso, NBII
Moose Ronald L Bell, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Public Domain
Moose cow and calf photo Kimon Berlin
[...] Moose Under Fire in Sweden: Shoot to Kill and Cull Campaign Moose on the loose in Sweden [...]
“The new shoot to kill campaign allows local hunters to track down a moose and shoot it after it has been involved in a vehicle collision.”
Some people may be taken by that statement, but I know that locally the Law enforcement agencies do the same thing in my area… It’s humane if you’ve ever seen it done.
Friends of ours hit an Elk while on the HWY, everyone was alright but the elk’s legs were broken, shooting the elk was the right thing to do.
I’m guessing that hitting a moose at 80mph is going to be potentially fatal for both parties. At 30mph there probably wouldn’t be an accident.
So speed limits might be a less blood thirsty solution.
With the growth of car sales in China I guess it can’t be too long before somebody gets hurt colliding with a giant panda and we’ll have to cull them for road safety as well…
This is a terrible idea. Hunters will just kill moose for sport and before you know it they will be another endangered species. If moose and deer are over populated it is no ones fault but our own. People just need to be more careful and less distracted. There is no way to control how many moose are actually being hunted. Yes it is tragic that people are getting killed but we are on their territory and not the other way around.
The pro-hunting lobby will do anything to get its blood-stained hands on animals. How disgusting! There are 5 billion people too many on this planet. Are we going to start culling people, then?
Perhaps some of the wolves that Idado is allowing hunters to kill will a $11.75 hunting permit should be exported to Sweden.
It seems to me all these culls to kill animals around the world, the Wolf culls in Alaska, Ohio and Montana in the United States, Baby Seal killing in Canada (my own country), the Deer cull in the United States, Polar Bear and Seal as well in United States, frankly, when you look at it, it is not about the safety of humans or what ever the reasons behind all this killing is, but instead the usual ‘bottom line’ of money to be made from the spoils of this mass killing of animals, I suspect inspired by the recent economic crash.
The TRUTH behind all of this is becoming more clear by the day as all these issues crop up in the news and on web sites.
Sad the innocent ones have to pay for man’s mistakes.
Poor form on our part.
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[...] Re: Murder by drunken elk There’s a script for "Law & Order"! Poor guy. It’s not an uncommon occurrence for moose to attack humans in the US & Canada. It looks like Sweden is currently having a problem. Moose Under Fire in Sweden: Shoot to Kill and Cull Campaign : EcoWorldly [...]