The Alces alces awards

In January 2019, the towns of Moose Jaw, Canada, and StorElvdal, Norway, engaged in a tongue‐in‐cheek spat over the size of their moose (Alces alces) statues. At 9.80 m in height, the Canadian town's “Mac the Moose” had long been the world's tallest. In 2015, however, Stor‐Elvdal erected “Storelgen” (literally, The Big Moose). Storelgen was 30 cm taller, putting Moose Jaw's nose out of joint. Mac was a brown, cartoonish, wire‐and‐concrete affair, while Storelgen was sheer liquid beauty, fashioned from steel with the glimmering appearance of quicksilver (Figure 1). But that wasn't what bothered the Canadians. The Norwegian moose was bigger! After trading mock blows, the North Americans eventually conceded defeat to their new Scandinavian friends. But they knew not all was lost: Tallest Statue is not the only moose award to be had. ？Wafuefotodesign/Dreamstime.com What about Who's Got the Most Moose? Certainly, the Canadians this time hammer the Norwegians, at least in the absolute numbers game. Canada may have 500,000 to 1 million moose, while Norway can muster only 120,000 to 150,000. The US, with around 300,000 (including Alaska), can't compete; only Russia with 600,000 has a look‐in. Total moose, however, is not the only possible basis for this award. If it's moose per square meter you're talking about, Sweden wins it hands down. With a massive 400,000 moose in just 447,000 km2, it's a runaway winner. Even granting the Canadians all of those 1 million moose doesn't cut it against a surface area of 9.98 million km2 (if you really want this in moose per square meter, do the math yourself!). Sweden's huge moose stash allows for an annual hunt of 80,000 to 100,000 animals, which in meat terms equates to nearly 10% of the country's beef production. Yet in the early 20th century, moose were quite rare in Sweden (although this didn't stop the October 31, 1928, issue of the Pinckney Dispatch, a local newspaper of Livingston County, MI, reporting them to be threatening the Swedish match industry by feeding too generously on the aspen trees from which matches are made). However, changes to hunting laws, cattle grazing practices in forests, and especially logging management (which provided clearings where moose can easily feed) collectively secured Sweden's top spot as most dense in moose. And then there's Biggest Moose. Even more room for trouble here! Which subspecies (there are seven)? By body weight or antler size? By individual or in general? The Alaskan moose, however, is generally regarded as the largest of all, and the biggest one ever recorded, a bull