Elgnytt (Moose News): The White Moose of Sweden

Since the end of Aftenposten English many in the Norwegian-American community have suffered from a deficit of moose news, a phenomenon covered in an earlier blog post.

Here, however, is some relief. This week the Norwegian paper Dagbladet picked up this story about two albino moose spotted in Sweden, close to the border with Norway.

The rare animals were photographed by Gerd Johsnrud, a Norwegian woman from Kongsvinger, Norway, while driving near the Swedish town of Charlottenberg. Johnsrud had just enough time to snap these pictures before the battery in her camera died and the moose vanished.

Albino moose are extremely rare. The article quotes one Jon M. Arnemo, a professor at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, as saying that moose moms give birth to albinos only once in a million births.

While uncommon, white moose are not unknown to Norwegian forests, and even less so to the Norwegian press. The article also says that another albino moose caused controversy in Østfold, Norway when a local hunter’s group refused to spare the animal during the 2006 hunting season. A year later, an albino moose spotted in Finnmark, in far Northern Norway, was dubbed “Ronalbino” by Dagbladet’s readers.