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Of: TT
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Photo: Adam Ihse / TT
Elk calves that are shot during elk hunting have become ten kilograms lighter on average in Götaland and Svealand over the past 20 years, a new study shows. Stock Photography.
More elk calves die and those that survive grow smaller in hot, dry springs. This is demonstrated by a new study from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Umeå, reports Swedish Radio Ekot.
The trend is particularly noticeable in Svealand and Götaland. Newborn calves nurse from their mother in May and June, and if it is very hot and it rains a little, the cow cannot produce milk as well due to heat stress and poor nutrition.
Moose adapt to the cold. They don’t thrive in high temperatures, so they get less energy for other things, for example to produce milk, Fredrik Widemo, one of the researchers, tells Ekot.
Among other things, researchers have analyzed the slaughter weights of calves during moose hunting for the past 20 years. In Götaland and Svealand, the average weight has been reduced by ten kilos, to 55 and 60 kilos respectively. In Norrland, the mean weight at slaughter has dropped slightly less, from just over 70 kilos to just under 70 kilos.
In the United States, moose have even disappeared from certain southern parts of the range, says Fredrik Widemo, who believes that parts of southern Sweden may eventually have a reduced moose population.
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