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Two elk shot dead after chaos in Swedish town

Published: 2 Jul 12 10:43 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/41774/20120702/

Two elk that were causing havoc in a busy residential area in southern Sweden were shot dead by hunters in an effort to protect civilians in the area.

The two elk were shot Sunday around 6pm in Lund, southern Sweden, after a frenzied run around the town which lasted several hours.

“They ran out into the middle of the road, but got scared of the cars and turned back into the park,” elk-witness Naib Woldemariam told the local Sydsvenskan newspaper.

People gathered to try and help the panicked animals, warning nearby traffic to slow down in the area; however police were forced to call in professional hunters to deal with the problem.

“They get stressed and confused with all the cars and were too wound up to be tranquilized,” said hunter Lars Celander to the paper.

“We found the first and then heard over the radio about where the other one was. It’s a danger to the public, that’s why it came to this.”

The hunters found the elk in an exhausted state, killed them, and removed the bodies themselves.

Meanwhile, Marie Keismar of the Skåne police explained that the hunters were forced to make the decision as police efforts to drive the elk out of the town can often lead to the animals dying of stress.

She added that tranquilizing the elk was “not on option” as it requires the permission of the Swedish Board of Agriculture (Jordbruksverket).

“It’s sad that we had to kill them, but they were on train tracks and on roads. They got easily stressed,” she told the paper.

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11:30 July 2, 2012 by Frobobbles
"protect civilians"? Are the elks military?
11:36 July 2, 2012 by rise
"She added that tranquilizing the elk was "not on option" as it requires the permission of the Swedish Board of Agriculture"

So not to break any idiotic regulation it's better to simply end the animal's life?!

P.S. @ #1, an angry elk can be very dangerous for a tiny little human.
11:56 July 2, 2012 by skogsbo
Anyone who has been within 100m of an adult Elk will fully understand their size and the damage they could to themselves or people in an urban environment. Those who haven't will make stupid comments.
12:10 July 2, 2012 by robban70226
who got the meat?
14:48 July 2, 2012 by avatar
So tranquilizing the elk requires the permission of the Swedish Board of Agriculture but killing them does not???
15:02 July 2, 2012 by wendist
In this case I think you should trust the hunters more than the police spokeswoman.

"They get stressed and confused with all the cars and were too wound up to be tranquilized," said hunter Lars Celander to the paper."

"She added that tranquilizing the elk was "not on option" as it requires the permission of the Swedish Board of Agriculture"
15:10 July 2, 2012 by Borilla
Of course, trust the people who enjoy killing elg. Stupid regulations require that they be killed because otherwise they MIGHT die and it requires permission of the Swedish Board of Agriculture to save them. Why is it that the authorities always find an excuse to kill animals rather than take steps to save them?
17:33 July 2, 2012 by Flappytango
it happens all the time... We are just hearing about it because they were running aroung in lund.

Two more will be shot soon near flaconberg. What did the moose do? they have been tearing apart peoples summer home gardens on a routine basis. Two young moose that are not scared off by people in close proximity yelling at them. they just continue eating their lunch. Once enough complaints are received they will be put down.
06:15 July 3, 2012 by Richard S
In Sweden are moose called elk? Not so in the USA
08:50 July 3, 2012 by Åskar
@Richard S

In America elks are called moose for some strange reason. Get the perspective!
09:08 July 3, 2012 by texaslass
Elk and moose are two different animals. Elk and moose are both in the US, but in different places. In Sweden, there are only moose. The elk is bigger than the moose. This article is a misprint, it should read "moose' rather than 'elk.'

The reason for the misnomer is that when the Scandinavian folks emigrated to the US, they saw the elk and thought that it must be a moose. Therefore, they named it "älg,'then the word later corrupted to elk. So, that is why an "älg' is a moose in English, and an elk is an elk.
11:38 July 3, 2012 by Decedo
Mmmmmm Moose burgers :)
16:29 July 3, 2012 by motti
Did they attempt to stun the animal first so that it would not be stressed, in line with current Swedish thoughts about the killing of animal? Or is that only with animals that are to be eaten afterwards? As per above, ,what happened to the meat?
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