Nature Notes from Norway - Elk & calf in Rondane national park
804 views · Published 13 December 2011 · 3:06 · Indexed 16 October 2026
Channel: screenshot · 2011 · Travel & Events
The valleys are there for the people and tcattle. Just a bit further on another type of cattle crosses our path. Indeed, it is the animal on the label attached to the back of the tourist's car, the elk. Elk is a variety of huge deer and in size resembles a large horse. The males or bulls weigh about 600 kilos, the females or cows are about 300. Elk calves are born around May or June. Sometimes mom has two. At the age of five the young are full-grown adults. Elk mating takes place in September and happens quite smoothly. The more so if you compare it to their relative the red deer. There is hardly any fighting and bellowing is out of the question. The elk cow keeps watch over her calf, always willing to chase away the overly curious. And when things get serious she can always use her forelegs to lash out. In fact an elk with a calf can be very dangerous. So the lesson is .. don't get too close. Animals such as elk and reindeer follow the climate; in the summer you find them higher up in the mountains, in the winter they move to the lower regions and valleys. This is also the country where the fjord horse really comes from. Info HighRes Imagery: http://www.stockshot.nl/ © All Rights reserved by Fauna Film B.V. http://www.faunafilm.nl
