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elk

Elk or moose?

The Local Sweden
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Elk or moose?

Whenever an elk makes the news on The Local, there is almost always a debate about whether the Swedish beast is indeed an elk... or a moose. The official verdict is elk. We found out why.

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It looks like a moose, acts like a moose, and even smells like a moose... but the four legged behemoth wandering around in Sweden is most definitely not a moose at all. It's an elk.

In order to clear up the issue once and for all, The Local spoke to Christina Hamnqvist at Skansen Zoo in Stockholm who set the record straight.

"The moose in North America and the elk in the UK are effectively the same species as the Swedish älg," Hamnqvist told The Local.

"In North America, however, there's a breed of stag that is known as 'elk', so Americans get confused when we use the word 'elk' to describe what they call 'moose'."

"'Elk' and 'älg', however, are derived from the same German word. 'Moose' descends from another language - presumably Native American."

So there you have it. They are the same species, the same animal, they just have a different name. And here in Sweden the name is elk.

It's really quite simple.

And while we're talking about elk, why not enjoy some highlights from the archives, including the famous elk that got drunk and then stuck in a tree, the elk threesome captured on camera, the elk that took a dip in a swimming pool, and the elk expert who promised "elk intimacy" on his safaris.

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