The moose, the lynx, the wolverine, the gray wolves, brown bears and the musk ox are sometimes known as ‘Sweden´s big six’, an equivalent to Africa´s big five.
Moose, live throughout the land in large numbers, even in areas close to the big cities. The moose is also Swedens unofficial national animal.
Wolverines live primarily in Lapland where its prey includes reindeer.
Wolves, once threatened with extinction, have now recovered and can even be seen in the southern parts of Sweden.
Brown bears that are mostly found in the northwestern forest and mountain regions.
The lynx, the Nordic Region’s own big cat, is a breed that survives well in the large forest areas covering the country.
A shaggy giant ox, the musk ox, is one of the oldest species of animal in the world - the contemporaries include the mammoth and the cave bear - and lives in the wild in Härjedalen in north-west Sweden.
I took this photo of a lioness with her three 3 day-old cubs at Kolmården zoo in Sweden, back in April 2004. Me and my classmates, who were studying animal care at an agricultural school at the time, stayed with a few of our teachers at the zoo’s research center for three days. We got to go “behind the scenes” and for example meet five bottle-bred wolves and a male giraffe about 5 metres tall. But, seeing these little lion cubs was probably the biggest previlege in my opinion. Three amazing days all in all.
