It might seem a paradox: on the one hand the farmers are demanding that more moose be killed, on the other hand the hunters refuse to take up their rifles. The moose hunting season, which officially kicks off on 12 October, is dividing the swedes. Because moose hunting is a serious matter here, an important moment that marks the calendar of every Swede. A sort of New Year's Eve, since schools and offices are closed to allow the jokes to take place.
The reasons of the farmers are self-evident: in recent years the ungulate population has increased dramatically and the crops are no longer safe. On the other hand, the hunters, who after having made the number of moose increase, do not intend to kill more animals than expected, fearing that the collapse of individuals will lead to a halt to traditional hunting in the years to come, as already risked. long ago.
Adult specimens, which reach a height of two meters and weigh up to 850 kg, can eat up to 200 kilos of pine needles per day. A great damage to the Swedish economy, which makes one of its most important export factors precisely of the conifer trade.
Sweden is the country with the highest density of Alci in the world: here the forests host populations three times as numerous as in Canada and 10 times as many as in Russia. During the hunting season, in a few weeks, about 90 moose are killed. An important figure, if we consider that the total number of animals in Sweden is around 400 thousand. For this reason, according to the hunters, killing more animals than necessary - if we can say so - would be a serious threat to the survival of these animals.
Less than two weeks after the opening of the hunting season, the debate in Sweden is destined to become even more heated, with farmers accusing the hunters' lobby of being a mafia and with the latter pointing out how farmers in this circumstance they lack common sense. The dispute is still open, and it is not known whether an increase in the number of animals to be killed will be granted. Certainly, in the confrontation between farmers and hunters, those who will come out defeated in any case will be the moose as usual.
Source www.rivistanatura.com