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Researchers now know how many moose are taken by wolves and bear each year

For the first time, researchers have thoroughly mapped how many moose fall prey to wolves and bears in Norway. This also provides new insights for wildlife management and hunting.

Wildlife camera shot of several wolves eating a carcass in a forest at night
The wolf's appetite for moose is great, the unique mapping shows.
Erlend Moe Communications Adviser
Noorit Larsen Communications adviser
Presented by: Presented by: Presented by: University of Inland Norway
Published

This year's moose hunting season has ended. 

In recent decades, moose hunters have faced competition from four-legged hunters. Wolves and bears have become more numerous in parts of Norway.

But exactly how many moose fall prey to predators remained uncertain. 

Researchers at the University of Inland Norway and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences now have an answer. 

They have conducted a comprehensive and unique study based on the results of many years of research on large predators in Scandinavia.

Professor Barbara Zimmermann says that the data basis has consequences for hunting and wildlife management.

Using hunting statistics, GPS tracking of radio-tagged predators, field observations, and a compilation of previous studies, they have calculated what proportion of the moose population ends up as prey for predators and what proportion is taken by hunting.

Wolves and bears made a large dent in the moose population

The researchers examined 20 wolf territories with varying densities of wolves and bears, in central parts of Sweden and eastern parts of Norway. 

The figures are taken from a period of 21 years.

The study shows that predators kill many moose every year: Wolves and bears kill an average of nearly 11 per cent of the moose in the areas studied.

Wolves account for 8.6 per cent and bears for 2.3 per cent.

Large variations from year to year and between areas

Where there are few moose and wolf dens are small, the impact of predators on the moose population can be large. If the moose population is large, the impact of predators is smaller.

In a small wolf territory on the border between Norway and Sweden, wolves killed 17 per cent of all moose in 2018. 

The researchers followed a wolf pair in the same region 15 years earlier. 

Despite killing almost twice as many moose, their killing amounted to less than three per cent of all moose – simply because there were more moose and they were killed over a larger geographical area.

The impact of hunting is greater

The researchers also estimated that the average harvest from human hunting was 17.5 per cent across the areas.

On average, more moose are therefore still killed by hunting than by predators. But in some of the wolf territories, predators kill more.

In some places, increased predator harvest is compensated by less hunting, but in several areas, hunting has not been adjusted. 

Several other factors come into play when hunting quotas are set, including grazing damage in forests and the risk of traffic accidents as a result of moose collisions.

"There should be consequences"

One of the researchers behind the study, Professor Barbara Zimmermann of the University of Inland Norway, says that the figures they have presented will have consequences for hunting and wildlife management:

“These figures are important for those who manage hunting. Quotas and targets for the moose population must be adjusted to ensure sustainable management of forest resources,” she says.

Predators' appetite for moose can have a negative effect on hunting income in some local communities. 

At the same time, she points out that predators, and the limitation they place on the moose population, help reduce grazing damage in the forest. 

"In addition, the carcasses left behind by predators are important for scavengers," she adds.

A woman wearing a knitted jumper takes field notes in a snowy forest with a clipboard.
The study builds on many years of wildlife research. Pictured is one of the researchers, Professor Barbara Zimmermann, on a field study in the forest.

The place of predators in the landscape

The study points to the need for dialogue between landowners, hunters, wildlife managing authorities, and researchers to find solutions that both ensure sustainable management of moose and take into account the place of predators in the landscape.

According to Zimmermann, there is great interest in the figures both in wildlife management and research.

“On a global scale, this is a fairly unique study, because we have access to research data and hunting statistics from many years. This allows us to make these types of calculations,” she says.

Reference: 

Sand et al. Quantifying large carnivore predation relative to human harvest on moose in an intensively managed boreal ecosystem, Ecological Applications, vol. 35, 2025. DOI: 10.1002/eap.70000

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Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no

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