Sweden's deer on the move: one year of migrations

by @chrisjager · 1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 2026

About this map

A typical year for Sweden's deer family, from midsummer to midsummer. Every dot stands for a few hundred to a thousand animals; lighter dots are the ones that migrate. Reindeer (about 227,000 in winter, all herded by the Sámi samebyar) spend summer in the high mountains, rut and are rounded up in autumn, trek 70–275 km south-east to the forest lands in November–December (often partly by lorry today) and walk back to the calving lands in April–May. Moose (about 300,000) are partial migrants. In the north most of them move up the river valleys toward the mountains in spring (late April–May, ~65 km on average, up to 210 km) and come back down when the snow gets deep, from late November to January; further south fewer move, and shorter distances (13 km in central Sweden, under 10 km in the south). SVT's 'Den stora älgvandringen' films them swimming the Ångermanälven at Kullberg. Roe deer in the snowy north move down the valleys toward the coast for the winter (elsewhere about one in five shifts a few km, too little to see here), red deer stags walk to their rutting grounds in September–October, and fallow deer stay put. This is a model, not tracking data: herds are placed and moved using published ranges, distances, directions and dates, each region in step, and the shapes are smoothed. Gotland (no moose) is left empty. Sources: Sametinget, Samebyarnas markanvändningsredovisning (seasonal lands and migration routes, generalised) and Renhjorden 1995–2023; CMS Global Initiative on Ungulate Migration, moose fact sheets (Neumann & Ericsson, SLU, 2026); SLU, The great moose migration; Singh et al. 2012 (Ecological Applications); Ball et al. 2001 (Wildlife Biology); Höglund 2018 (SLU, roe deer migration at Grimsö); Jarnemo (SLU, red deer stags in southern Sweden); Svenska Jägareförbundet, Viltövervakningen and national harvest 2024/25; SVT, Den stora älgvandringen.

Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/swedens-deer-on-the-move-one-year-of-migrations.md

Timeline

DateWhat the map shows
1 Jul 2025Midsummer: reindeer high in the mountains
8 Jul 2025Midsummer: reindeer high in the mountains
15 Jul 2025Calf marking in the summer lands
22 Jul 2025Calf marking in the summer lands
29 Jul 2025Calf marking in the summer lands
5 Aug 2025Late summer: moose fatten up inland
12 Aug 2025Late summer: moose fatten up inland
19 Aug 2025Reindeer drift to the autumn lands
26 Aug 2025Reindeer drift to the autumn lands
2 Sep 2025Moose hunt opens in the north
9 Sep 2025Moose hunt opens in the north
16 Sep 2025Rut: red deer stags gather
23 Sep 2025Rut: red deer stags gather
30 Sep 2025Reindeer rut in the mountain birch
7 Oct 2025Reindeer rut in the mountain birch
14 Oct 2025Reindeer rut in the mountain birch
21 Oct 2025Round-ups: reindeer separated
28 Oct 2025First snow: roe deer head for the coast
4 Nov 2025First snow: roe deer head for the coast
11 Nov 2025Reindeer gather on the pre-winter lands
18 Nov 2025Reindeer gather on the pre-winter lands
25 Nov 2025The long trek east to the forest lands
2 Dec 2025The long trek east to the forest lands
9 Dec 2025The long trek east to the forest lands
16 Dec 2025The long trek east to the forest lands
23 Dec 2025Winter grazing in the forest
30 Dec 2025Deep snow: moose down in the valleys
6 Jan 2026Deep snow: moose down in the valleys
13 Jan 2026Deep snow: moose down in the valleys
20 Jan 2026Last moose reach their winter range
27 Jan 2026Last moose reach their winter range
3 Feb 2026Midwinter: lichen under the snow
10 Feb 2026Midwinter: lichen under the snow
17 Feb 2026Midwinter: lichen under the snow
24 Feb 2026Midwinter: lichen under the snow
3 Mar 2026Midwinter: lichen under the snow
10 Mar 2026Late winter
17 Mar 2026Late winter
24 Mar 2026Spring winter: reindeer turn west
31 Mar 2026Spring winter: reindeer turn west
7 Apr 2026Southern moose move first
14 Apr 2026Southern moose move first
21 Apr 2026Snow crust: herds head up the valleys
28 Apr 2026The great moose migration begins
5 May 2026Moose swim the Ångermanälven
12 May 2026Reindeer calving season
19 May 2026Mountain moose climb to summer range
26 May 2026Mountain moose climb to summer range
2 Jun 2026Early summer
9 Jun 2026Early summer
16 Jun 2026Back up to the high mountains
23 Jun 2026Back up to the high mountains
30 Jun 2026A year later: back where they started

Layers

Fallow deer · Red deer · Red deer stags (rut) · Roe deer, resident · Roe deer, migrating · Moose, resident · Moose, migrating · Moose, migrating · Moose, migrating · Moose, migrating · Moose, migrating · Moose, migrating · Reindeer · Reindeer

Events

  • 21 Apr 2026, Kullberg: Den stora älgvandringen: Every spring SVT films moose swimming the Ångermanälven here, near Junsele, on their way from winter ranges to summer ranges further up the valley: usually 100–200 moose over a few weeks in late April and May.