''The Big Elk'', also known as ''Storelgen'' (meaning 'big elk' in Norwegian), is the world's second-tallest sculpture of an elk/
moose
The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...
(''Alces alces''). It is near the village of
Atna The Ahtna are an Alaska Native Athabaskan people of Alaska.
Ahtna or Atna may also refer to:
Places
* Atna Range, a small sub-range of the Skeena Mountains in northern British Columbia, Canada
* Atna, Norway, a village in the municipality of St ...
in
Stor-Elvdal
Stor-Elvdal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Koppang. Other villages in the municipality include Atna, Even ...
,
Hedmark
Hedmark () was a county in Norway before 1 January 2020, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar.
Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged i ...
, Norway.
[ It held the title of the tallest moose sculpture for 4 years, from its completion in October 2015 until October 2019.
]
The sculpture
Paid for by a donation from Sparebank1 Hedmark art foundation,[Vivian Stensrud (15 October 2015]
Storelgen er på plass
NRK. Retrieved 30 January 2019 the sculpture was created by the Norwegian artist Linda Bakke
Linda Bakke (born 19 August 1973) is a Norwegian artist, residing in Stange.
She is a graduate of Oslo Tegne and Maleskole (a drawing and painting school in Oslo) (1991–1994) and Vestlandets kunstakademi in Bergen (1994–1998). The latter was ...
in conjunction with the Norwegian Public Roads Administration
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration ( no, Statens vegvesen) is a Norwegian government agency responsible for national and county public roads in Norway. This includes planning, construction and operation of the national and county road netw ...
(NPRA). It was officially unveiled on 15 October 2015.[Rune Hagen (27 July 2015) ''Østlendingen''. Retrieved 1 February 2019] It is close to National Road 3 and is an attempt to reduce traffic accidents by encouraging drivers to take a break and be aware of wildlife on the roads. Stor-Elvdal has Norway's third-highest moose population.[
The project started in 2009.][ The building and installation of the sculpture took around six months.]Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, China, as a Chinese bidder had the best offer both in economic terms and with regard to quality.[ Daily Scandinavian. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2019] It is made of polished stainless steel
Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...
.[Leyland Cecco (18 January 2019]
An egregious offence': Canada battles Norway for tallest moose statue
''The Guardian'' The height is ,[Vaaju.com ''Vaaju.com''. Retrieved 12 March 2019] and at the time of its completion it was about taller than ''Mac the Moose
''Mac the Moose'' is a steel and concrete sculpture of a moose in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. It is on the grounds of Moose Jaw's visitors' center, on the corner of E Thatcher Drive and the Trans-Canada Highway. It is claimed to be the world's large ...
'' in Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.[ The sculpture cost a little more than €200,000 (about ]US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
236,000), and the Bjøråa picnic area and rest stop in the area, created by the NPRA, is worth €2.7 million (about $3 million).[
]
Rivalry and media coverage
In January 2019, Canadian comedians Justin Reves and Greg Moore highlighted the fact that ''The Big Elk'' was the world's tallest moose statue[ and called on Canadians to add to the height of '']Mac the Moose
''Mac the Moose'' is a steel and concrete sculpture of a moose in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. It is on the grounds of Moose Jaw's visitors' center, on the corner of E Thatcher Drive and the Trans-Canada Highway. It is claimed to be the world's large ...
'' which previously held the title. The comedians set up a GoFundMe
GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the b ...
page to hire an engineer to make Mac taller, hoping to raise C$50,000. This created widespread attention in Canadian media and international media.[
Fraser Tolmie, the mayor of ]Moose Jaw
Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians ...
, told the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
: 'We're considered to be very mannerly and respectful, but there are things you just don't do to Canadians. You don't mess with Mac the Moose.' A popular suggestion, according to the mayor, is to make Mac's antlers larger, while others have suggested adding a pair of
.