The moose is called the “king of the forest”. There are good reasons for that, it is Norway’s largest mammal on land. – I have never seen anything like it, and I have seen many animals throughout my photography career, says photographer Thomas Mørch. He is talking about the spotted elk that walks around Hallingdal. A few years ago Albin the albino moose became such a big celebrity that the hunting teams protected him. A white national treasure, which was felled by a Danish hunter in 2011 who had not caught the “protection”. Now the forest has a new moose that stands out. It is not completely white, but mottled. Right now it is not so easy to spot the spotted moose. He gets worse in the spring. Photo: Thomas Mørch – Mainly interested in eating Mørch, who, among other things, has created a photo shelter in Nesbyen where people can spend the night to take photos of golden eagles, tells Hallingdølen that he threw himself around when he got a tip about the spotted moose in Hovet in Hol municipality. – I have a friend who runs horses up there and the moose had been on his summer pasture for several days. I traveled there immediately, because suddenly he could be gone, says Mørch to news. He took his binoculars with him, and it didn’t take long for the photographer to spot the moose. – It wasn’t particularly splashy. He was mostly concerned with eating. I sat for a while and he “accepted” me. I could probably go closer, but I don’t like to push the animals when they are in their natural habitat and eating, says Mørch. Moose in Norway There are no exact figures, but there are probably somewhere between 120,000 and 150,000 moose in Norway, writes the Carnivore Centre. The moose is the world’s largest game deer and Norway’s largest land mammal. The largest bulls (bulls) can weigh up to 800 kilos. The elk has a striking, almost prehistoric appearance, with a short and powerful build and long and powerful legs. Neck and neck are short and full, writes Store norske lexikon. At birth, moose calves are uniformly light brown or reddish brown. The brownish color is retained until they get the first greyish winter coat in September/October. The winter fur is thicker and grayer than the summer fur and is replaced again on the eve of spring, according to SNL. Only the males have antlers. Moose hunting is a tradition in several places in Norway, and according to Statistics Norway, over 25,000 moose are killed annually. Dangerous spots University lecturer and zoologist Petter Bøckmann sits at the Natural History Museum. He has seen a lot. – But I have never seen this before, he says to news. Zoologist Petter Bøckmann has never seen such a moose before. Photo: Julia Marie Naglestad / news Bøckmann says that the spots are due to piebaldism. – This is a genetic mutation. It is quite common in some domesticated animals, and can actually also appear in humans. It is more rare among wild animals, he says. Because even though the fur may look like good camouflage among the snow and trees now, the elk gets worse when the white disappears. – Just wait until spring. Almost all animals have the color they have to avoid becoming food for someone, and this particularly applies to mammals, says the zoologist. Even if the elk transitions to winter fur, the spots will be the same even when it gets milder. – If you are a wolf, you often go after the animal that you think looks like there is something wrong with it. Therefore, it is a disadvantage for the animals to stand out, says Bøckmann. The mottled elk was probably born in 2022. Photo: Thomas Mørch – Fat as a pig Piebaldism is caused by a mutation that knocks out the formation of the sister cells of the nervous system. Nervous and skin systems are formed from the same cells, and if half of them are not formed with pigments – then you end up with such cases. Another person who has observed the moose is Jan Eira, who saw it on his way to work before the weekend. – It doesn’t look like a moose. He is almost as fat as a pig, with a belly like a cow, says Eira to Hallingdølen. Mørch is glad the moose has eaten its fill, and hopes it will make it through the winter. – He is good and fat, and it looked like he was doing well. But it’s clear, he’s a weirdo, who blended in with the birch trees and the snow there.
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Spotted elk causes attention – is affected by piebaldism – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
