Geplaatst:13 mrt 2006 08:17 - Gewijzigd: 13 mrt 2006 08:17

Town Norway offers moose adoptions

OSLO - A small Norwegian town was quickly running out of moose after offering to name each animal after its sponsor in a research project.

Audiostream:

„We have four or five left, but they are going fast”, said Helge Sines, head of forestry for Vegaarshei township in southern Norway.

Township wildlife officials wanted to put radio tracking collars on 25 moose, so they could study their movements for two years. But the project was too expensive, at more than 400,000 kroner ($60,000).

So they enlisted the moose themselves to do a little fundraising. For a 5,000 kroner ($740) donation, the team will name a moose for a sponsoring company, organization or individual. „It doesn’t cover the amount per animal, but without the goodwill of these sponsors, we wouldn’t have been able to go ahead”, Sines told.

The project intends to track moose movements, summer and winter pastures, grazing preferences, estimated death rates, and research methods of reducing the risk of collisions between moose and trains or motor vehicles. (AP)