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While on assignment this year in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador for The New York Times, my attention turned to big game — moose, that is.
In 1904, four moose calves were introduced to Newfoundland as part of a plan to lure big game hunters from outside the province to the island’s railway. The railway, known with affectionate sarcasm as the Newfie Bullet, is long gone. But the moose remain.
Without any significant predator — other than people — moose have thrived on the island, and they now number between 120,000 and 150,000. That’s about one moose for every four people who live on the island.
That’s good and bad news. The annual moose hunt is a major cultural event in Newfoundland, and moose are an important food source for some locals. But on the highways that arrived long after the creatures did, cars and trucks hit moose at a rate of 1.5 collisions a day, which often result in serious injuries and death, for both people and the animals. Well-meaning but ill-conceived attempts by people to alter nature — and the consequences of that — have always interested me.
As I began my reporting this spring, the photographer Ian Willms and I faced two challenges. First, I struggled to find people who had the misfortune of striking a moose with their cars. Second, we also needed to see some actual moose. Aside from photographs, I thought it was important to at least have a look at the primary subject of my article.
That second task was the more anxiety-inducing. Three years ago, I wrote about Canadians’ love-hate relationship with beavers, the country’s national animal. While I had seen many of the creatures throughout my life, not one appeared during my reporting. It took the photographer Nasuna Stuart-Ulin several stakeouts to find one swimming. Moose, I feared, would be equally shy.
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