Millions tune in to see Sweden's annual moose migration
Millions of viewers are expected to tune in to one of TV's unlikely hits over the next few weeks, as herds of moose make their annual spring migration toward summer grazing pastures.
Nine million people watched Sweden's Great Moose Migration last year, despite not much happening for hours at a time.
From now until May 4, remote cameras track dozens of the animals as they swim across the Angerman River, some 187 miles northwest of Stockholm.
The 24-hour live stream began airing on Sweden's national broadcaster SVT on Tuesday, a week ahead of schedule due to warm weather and early moose movement.
It's a 20-day slow TV event that's become a phenomenon, and its fans say the lack of action is one of the attractions.
Ulla Malmgren, 62, said she stocked up on coffee and prepared meals in advance so as not to miss a moment of the event.
"Sleep? Forget it. I don't sleep," she said.
Nearly a million people watched some or all of its first year in 2019, rising to nine million in 2024.
Slow TV began in 2009 when Norwegian public broadcaster NRK showed a seven-hour train trip across the southern part of the country and it has since spread to the UK, China and elsewhere.
Annette Hill, a professor of media and communications at Jonkoping University in Sweden, said slow TV has roots in reality television but feels more authentic as unstaged productions allow the audience to relax and watch the journey unfold.
Professor Hill said viewers enjoy the show because "nothing catastrophic is happening, nothing spectacular is happening. But something very beautiful is happening in that minute-by-minute moment".
She called it a chance for her to have "a calm, atmospheric setting in my own home, and I really appreciate it".
Read more:Gazans 'dying slowly under rubble'Rare colossal squid captured on cameraMixed UK weather over Easter
Up to 15 SVT staff work on the broadcast and enjoy lower stress levels, according to project manager Johan Erhag, who said it's cheap, given it delivered more than 500 hours of footage last year.
The moose have walked the route for thousands of years, making it easy for the crew to know where to lay almost 12 miles of cable and position 26 remote cameras and seven night cameras. A drone is also used.
Around 300,000 of the typically shy and solitary herbivores live in Sweden's woods.
The Scandinavian country's largest animal is known as the 'King of the Forest'. A bull moose can reach 6ft 10in at shoulder height and weigh 450kg (992lbs).
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Tourist tax to be introduced in Norway after surge in visitors
Norway is set to become the latest destination to introduce a tourist tax after a wave of travellers swap sun for cooler temperatures, leaving areas of country overwhelmed with new visitors. The country initially introduced a proposal for a tourist tax set at five per cent of the cost of an overnight stay, but a majority in parliament agreed to set the tax at three per cent. The law will allow local authorities to introduce the visitor fee at their discretion, with the funds used to pay for infrastructure projects that will benefit both tourists and residents. The tax will be added to accommodation charges, with authorities also allowed to adjust the fee depending on the season. Cecilie Myrseth, Norway's minister of trade and industry, told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK: 'It is not the case that we have year-round tourism throughout the country, but in some places, there are parts of the year that are particularly demanding, and the expenses that the residents have to pay for are particularly high.' Ms Mryseth said on social media on Tuesday that her party, Arbeiderpartiet, reached a 'historical agreement' with other parties to introduce visitor subsidies in Norway 'in line with what they have in the rest of Europe'. 'The scheme is voluntary [for local authorities], and it applies to areas that have a particularly large pressure of tourists.' 'The tourism industry is also the future of Norway,' she said. 'An industry that creates housing, happiness, good experiences, value creation and important jobs all over the country. 'If the industry wants to grow, we depend on trust locally. We ensure that with this agreement.' In recent years, the country has become an increasingly popular travel destination. In 2024, Norway saw a record-breaking 38 million visitors book accommodation. Some destinations have struggled with the newfound popularity, especially when it comes to the public facilities are available. Visitors to the famous Torghatten mountain trail often find themselves squatting in bushes to relieve themselves, while residents in more built-up areas like Tromsø have even found travellers using their back gardens as toilets. Ms Myrseth says she hopes the new tax will be able to be used by areas under pressure from this new wave of visitors, by ensuring 'trust between the local population and tourism'. The initial proposal was criticised for not including cruise passengers, as many say the worst-affected areas, such as the Lofoten archipelago, can get overwhelmed when thousands of tourists pour off the ships, as the infrastructure there is designed to only handle a smaller local population. However, the tax now appears to include charges to cruise ships, according to AFP, although it is unclear what form this will take. Not everyone in Norway has been onboard with the new visitor subsidy, with the travel and tourism branch of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise warning it could put tourists off visiting and calling the tax 'madness,' Euronews reports. The proposal has also been criticised for focusing solely on overnight stays, leaving campervans and daytrippers exempt from the charge. Einar Arve Nordang, the mayor of Stranda, a mountainous area that attracts skiers and hikers, as well as visitors to its quaint towns, said earlier this year that the proposal did not work for every area of Norway. 'It seems to me that the government's proposal is primarily designed for Tromsø and other places where you are forced to stay overnight if you visit them,' she told NRK. While not opposed to the tourist tax, villages such as Gerianger in Stranda have been advocating for years for day visit fees. Now that the Norwegian parliament has settled on an agreement, the tax could be introduced as early as summer in 2026.
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Yahoo
Norway adopts tourist tax to combat overtourism
Norwegian lawmakers approved Thursday the introduction of a tourist tax to help finance infrastructure improvements as a boom in visitors has led to worries about overtourism. The law introduces a three percent tax on lodgings, and may also be applied to cruise ships making stops, in areas particularly affected by tourism. The country registered last year a record 38.4 million night stays, including more than 12 million by foreigners, according to official data, as the country's picturesque fjords attract more and more visitors. However, public toilets and parking have been overwhelmed in some locations, causing tensions with local residents. The funds raised by the tax will go exclusively to improve tourism infrastructure. phy/rl/jhb
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Yahoo
"Take On Me" Singer Morten Harket Revealed He Has Parkinson's Disease
Morten Harket, who for more than 40 years has been the frontman of the Grammy-nominated Norwegian pop trio a-ha, confirmed this week that he has Parkinson's disease. Harket, 65, made the announcement Wednesday by sharing an article written by music journalist and author Jan Omdahl on a-ha's official website. In it, the singer-songwriter said he'd been experiencing vocal issues as a result of his condition, and admitted he was unsure about a return to the concert stage. 'The problems with my voice are one of many grounds for uncertainty about my creative future,' he said. Related: Keke Palmer's "Sickening" Dress Has The Internet In Shambles Though Harket said he had 'no problem accepting the diagnosis,' he added, 'I'm trying the best I can to prevent my entire system from going into decline. It's a difficult balancing act between taking the medication and managing its side effects. There's so much to weigh up when you're emulating the masterful way the body handles every complex movement, or social matters and invitations, or day-to-day life in general.' A native of Kongsberg, Norway, Harket formed a-ha with keyboardist Magne Furuholmen and guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy in 1982. Three years later, the band catapulted to international fame with their breakout smash, 'Take On Me.' The song's success was buoyed by its now-iconic music video, which combined live-action performance footage with pencil-sketch animation. Related: 21 Times Celebrities Revealed Wildly Juicy, Shady, Or Even Disturbing Things In Interviews Though a-ha never replicated the success of 'Take On Me' on a global scale, the band continued to release music throughout the '80s and '90s. In 1991, they broke the world record for paid attendance at a rock concert when they performed before more than 198,000 fans at Brazil's Rock in Rio festival. Their 11th studio album, True North, was unveiled in 2022. There is no cure for Parkinson's, a neurodegenerative disease that can cause muscle stiffness, impaired speech and uncontrolled movement. The disease can be revealed by a mere tremor of the hand, according to the Mayo Clinic. Furuholmen reacted to Harket's announcement with a heartfelt post on Instagram. Acknowledging he'd known about his bandmate's diagnosis 'for some time,' he said the news 'brings sadness,' but stressed 'there is also a lot of gratitude: for all the amazing memories, for how our combined creative efforts as a band have been so generously embraced by the world, and for how lucky we are that people continue to find meaning, hope and joy in our shared musical legacy.' In his chat with Omdahl, Harket said he didn't expect to regain 'full technical control' over his vocals, but had nonetheless been working on new songs 'that I've got great belief in, and I feel the lyrics, especially, have something of a different aspect of me in them.' 'I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish them for release,' he continued. 'Time will tell if they make it. I really like the idea of just going for it, as a Parkinson's patient and an artist, with something completely outside the box. It's all up to me, I just have to get this out of the way first.' This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Also in Celebrity: 14 Celebrities Who Have So Many Kids, They're Basically Running Their Own Daycare, And 11 Who Said "Hmm, Hard Pass" Also in Celebrity: 24 Strange, Gross, And Totally Surprising Facts About Red Carpet Outfits Also in Celebrity: Let's Talk About How Creepy The Sydney Sweeney Bikini Pics Are
