Two people work in a snowy forest, tagging a tranquilized moose lying on the ground; one holds a yellow tag labeled "4386" around the animal's neck.
Fredrik Stenbacka removes the GPS collar from the Junsele moose that the TV audience named “Hälga.” Charlotte Axén, a veterinarian, stands ready to inject the serum that will wake up the moose. The blanket over the moose’s eyes reduces sensory input and creates additional calm. Photo: Frida Wengberg.

Get me up to moose speed

Page reviewed:  14/04/2026

Have you just happened upon the Swedish moose and its migration? We have gathered some information to provide a quick introduction.

For thousands of years, the moose has followed the same route between its winter and summer ranges. The moose even disappeared from Sweden for a long period of time, but returned and now walks the same paths as its ancestors.

We know this because there are pitfall traps and rock carvings in the area that tell us where the very important moose was hunted. The landscape around these moose moulds their path through the millenias'. 

Map showing how the Junsele mooses have moved in relation to pitfalls
The blue lines show the Junsele mooses' migration and the black dots the placement of the old pitfalls
In the area around Junsele in particular, there is a large concentration of pitfall traps and moose. Some of these moose have previously been fitted with GPS collars, allowing researchers to track their movement. The Junsele mooses' must cross the same river every year to get to their summer gracing area. The Ångerman river is sometimes too fast-flowing or too icy, causing them to wait for the right moment. This also creates something of a traffic jam in a relatively small area. It is in this limited area that SVT has set up several cameras to follow the moose as they cross the Ångerman River.

In spring, there is a hurry to reach the summer grazing grounds so the migrations takes 1-3 weeks. Especially the females are in a hurry, they give birth in May–June. In winter, however, there is no such urgency and the moose are more spread out. They want to conserve their energy, so they move at a calmer pace taking their time, 6-8 weeks in November - January. 

More about the Swedish moose

The moose is the largest wild land-living animal in Sweden and is a ungulate mammal. It has a thick grey, grey-brown, or black coat, large ears, and long greyish-white legs. Male moose also have antlers, which they shed after the mating season ends in October–November. The antlers then grow back during late spring and summer. The offspring are called calves and are born in May–June, eight months after the mating season. An adult moose can weigh between 200 and 800 kg. Moose are largest in northern Sweden. A female moose can live to almost 30 years of age, but males rarely live beyond the age of 10. The moose has existed in Sweden for at least 8,000–10,000 years.

More about pitfalls and carvings in the Moose cult in Kullberg

Learn more about the migration in The Great Moose Migration

Where in Sweden are we talking about? Kullberg in Google maps