Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
in North America, the Inuit word for the musk ox is
oomingmaq,
which means 'the animal
with skin like a beard'.
Elk Safaris
» Oppdal
» Dombås
» Rjukan
» Evje
Wherever it is found, the musk ox is one of the most soulful of all Arctic and sub-Arctic
regions; in Barry Lopez'
Arctic Dreams
, the author quotes a Canadian musk ox biologist
as saying: 'They are so crisp in the landscape. They stand out like no other animal, against
the whites of winter or the colours of the summer tundra'. For more information on the
species, and the best places to join a musk-ox safari in summer, see the boxed text,
Click
here
.
From the forests of the far south to southern Finnmark,
elg
(elk; moose in the USA),
Europe's largest deer species, are fairly common, although given the Norwegian fondness
for elk meat, they wisely tend to stay clear of people and roads.
Reindeer
Wild
reinsdyr
(reindeer) exist in large herds across central Norway, usually above the
treeline and sometimes as high up as 2000m. The prime viewing areas are on the Hard-
angervidda Plateau, where you'll find Europe's largest herd (around 7000), but sightings
are also possible in most national parks of central Norway, as well as the inland areas of
Trøndelag. Unlike those further south, the reindeer of Finnmark in Norway's far north are
domestic and owned by the Sami, who drive them to the coast at the start of summer, then
backtotheinteriorinwinter.Thesmaller
svalbardrein
(Svalbardcaribouorreindeer;
Click
here
) is native only to Svalbard.
Other Land Mammals
Like many of Norway's larger mammal species,
bjørn
(brown bears) have been persecuted
for centuries, and Norway's only permanent population is in Øvre Pasvik National Park in
eastern Finnmark.
As in most places,
ulv
(wolves) aren't popular with farmers or reindeer herders and
hunters, and only a few still exist in the country (around Hamar and in Finnmark).
