A moose got trapped in a frozen river in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden on Feb. These people were able to help the moose make its way back to land using an axe and an ice pick.

Winter can be a beautiful time of the year. From sledding and skiing to hot cocoa, there are many ways to celebrate the cooler months. But for our animal friends, winter can be very dangerous and sometimes they need a helping hand.

Moose hair is hollow. This type of fur helps to insulate the animal from the cold.

A moose's front legs are longer than its back legs. This helps the moose more easily jump over things lying in its path. The hump on a moose's back is caused by massive shoulder muscles.

The flap of skin that hangs below a moose's chin is called a bell, according to National Geographic. A moose's wide hooves act like built-in snowshoes, helping the moose walk in the snow.

Moose can run 35 mph (56 km/h) over short distances and trot at 20 mph (32 km/h) for longer periods.


Moose are strong swimmers and can swim up to 6 mph (9.5 km/h) and as far as 12.4 miles (20 km). Moose can also stay under water for 30 seconds when swimming.

This seal looks like it has just been told the joke of the century. It was caught cracking up and blowing kisses while lying on a rock in the clear blue ocean near an island off the Swedish coast.

The pinniped was caught on camera by amateur wildlife photographer Martin Thoma, from Germany. Mr Thoma, 49, said: 'It was not easy to get these pictures - at first the seals were very shy.

'I visited them every day and they started to relax around me as they got used to me. 'I'm sure the seal had a fun time and enjoyed the sun on the rock.

'He has clearly found something very funny - I wonder what the joke was! 'It is these moments as a wildlife photographer that make me happy - I spend countless hours in nature, and these pictures are the reward for all that effort.'


During the winter months grey seals can be seen hauled out on rocks, islands, and shoals not far from shore, occasionally coming ashore to rest. In the spring recently weaned pups and yearlings occasionally strand on beaches after becoming separated from their group.

A wild boar in Sweden found himself in quite the predicament when he wandered out onto a frozen lake — and got stuck. The boar was attempting to escape from a small island in the middle of the lake, where he was likely running out of food. Unable to swim across, he tried to walk but kept slipping, and ended up entirely stuck.

Luckily, a group of skaters who were out curling spotted the little guy and knew they needed to help. If the skaters hadn't stepped up to help, the boar may never have made it on his own. It just goes to show that a little bit of kindness can go a very long way.

Wild boar are shy creatures and rarely seen in daylight. Dusk and dawn offer the best chances to see them. After two hundred years of absence the Wild Boar has made a return into the Swedish nature. The species has a long history in Sweden which began more than 8,000 years ago.


Boars are omnivorous, but most of the feed (about 90%) consisting of vegetables. Although it primarily feeds on fruits, seeds and roots, the Wild Boar eats a wide range of foods including some animal matter and scavanging from the Wolves’ leftovers.


Wild boars usually live in groups of between 6 and 20 individuals, although larger herds have been seen.

 Marja-Terttu Karlsson, who resides in Pajala, Swedish Lapland, did not realise how lucky she had been when she was out to photograph the northern lights last week.Only when she uploaded the images to the computer, she recognised the familiar shape that appeared right before her eyes:

– I thought "oh my God, it resembles a fox or a wolf or something." I didn't know when I photographed what I got. It was amazing, she says.

Northern lights are common in the arctic region of the northern hemisphere and are caused by the solar wind colliding with the atmosphere. Recent years northern lights have been getting more common, caused by increased solar activity.

Ms Karlssons picture of the celestial animal has since become a viral success. It has been shared thousands of times on Facebook, but has also raised suspicion. Several people have been in contact with the photographer herself, to question the authenticity of the picture. – They think it is fake, but I can assure all sceptics that it's genuine, Ms Karlsson says to SVT (Source)

A meeting with a Swedish Wolf

Nobody knows exactly how many Wolves there are in Sweden, but the figures are quite accurate. The inventory made in 2013/2014 pointed to between 300-500 Wolves in Sweden and Norway (most of them in Sweden).

The number of litters expressed as a female wolf with pups, amounted to about 50.

The height of the wolf up to the shoulder line is about 90 cm. Nordic wolves have a weight of 35 – 55 kg, whereby the males mostly have a bigger weight than the females.


The wolf has a big head and a coarse neck in relation to the size of the body. The wolf has a more streamlined body as compared to most of the dogs. The basic color of the Nordic and the European wolves is grey, with grey-yellow and red-brown varieties in the summer fur.


The winter fur is more of grey. The chin and throat are almost always white. The paws are big and the front paws biggest. The teeth are adapted to grip, drag, scratch and cross. The wolf has no problem with thighbones of a big Moose bull.

The population of wolves in Sweden is growing, with experts announcing on Tuesday that there are currently an estimated 400 in Sweden.

The information was presented on Tuesday at a seminar in Vålådalen, nothern Sweden, where researchers said wolves were also changing partners more often.

"We've had an unusually high turnover among wolf pairs lately. This can be a sign that more wolves are being killed," researcher Olof Liberg told the TT news agency.

"This could be due to an increase in illegal hunting, but we can't be sure."

Stockholm's Administrative Court axed this year's annual wolf hunt, which was due to start in February. The hunts are organized in an attempt to cull wolf numbers, with this year's target to cull 30 wolves.



It would have been the first licensed wolf hunt since 2011, but now marks the third season to get the chop on appeal.

Linn Svensson at the wildlife damage centre (Viltskadecenter), which also deals with wolf statistics in Sweden, said that growing population is part of a larger trend, but added that the wolf packs were not spreading across the country.

"In certain areas, the population has become more dense. It's incredibly dense between Värmland and Närke," she explained.

Despite the density of wolves in Sweden, some had spread as far south as Denmark for the first time in almost 200 years.
Source