Mirrors cut moose fatalities

Small mirrors hung alongside a major highway are proving highly effective at keeping wildlife off the road and preventing accidents. Moose aren't the only animals being spared.

The use of mirrors has been so successful at eliminating collisions between animals and cars, that the national railroad agency is interested in adopting the practice to keep wildlife off train tracks.
Not a single collision involving vehicles and wildlife has been recorded in the area since the mirrors were hung.

Muskox from Dovre, Norway

This picture is from Dovrefjell (the Dovre Mountain), Norway

The muskox (Ovibos moschatus) is an arctic mammal of the Bovidae family, noted for its thick coat and for the strong odor emitted by males, from which its name derives.

Muskoxen are usually around 2.5 m (8.2 ft) long and 1.4 m (4.6) high at the shoulder. Adults usually weigh at least 200 kg (440 lb) and can exceed 400 kg (880 lb). Their coat, a mix of black, gray, and brown, includes long guard hairs that reach almost to the ground.

Dovrefjell
The natural habitat for many rare plants and animals, it has become a national park in several stages starting in 1911, when some plants were put under protection. In 1974, parts of the range became a national park and the park was extensively enlarged in 2002. Together with Rondane it has Norway and Europe's last stock of wild reindeer of Beringia orign. Dovrefjell also has a stock of musk oxen, imported from Greenland in 1932.

Mr.Squirrel himself!

Wolf population on rise in Norway

Researchers think that Norway’s tiny wolf population, nearly wiped out a decade ago, may have grown dramatically this summer. That pleases conservationists, but worries ranchers.

The total wolf population in southern Scandinavia may be up by more than 50 percent, if the 23 known wolf pairs in Norway and Sweden all bore litters.
That would raise the estimated wolf population in both Norway and Sweden from at least 130 to around 230. With a 10 percent death rate, that would mean an increase of 59 percent.

Ranchers who release their sheep for traditional open grazing were likely to feel further threatened by the rise in the wolf population. They wage a constant battle against predators, and often have been at odds with efforts to restore Norway's once-nearly extinct wolf population.

Trace from an animal in the snow