Who would have guessed that naming a moose would be so popular?
According to an AP story, the small Norwegian town of Vegaarshei wanted to put radio tracking collars on 25 moose so they could study their movements for two years. However, the project was too expensive at more than 400,000 kroner ($60,000).
That’s when they decided to let donors name their moose. For a 5,000 kroner ($740) donation, the team will name a moose for a sponsoring company, organization or individual. That idea has proven so popular that the town is about to run out of moose. “We have four or five left, but they are going fast,” said Helge Sines, head of forestry for the township in southern Norway.
As part of the deal, moose sponsors can track their namesake on the Internet, although personal meetings are not on the agenda.
“We leave the moose in peace,” said Sines. “We do not take people to visit the moose. We don’t want to do anything to stress them.”
So remember: No funny names that would make the other moose tease them.