Did you know that: There was a Moose in Ås

Journalist: Henning Gran Kjøsnes
Translator: Hanna Elise Lothe Pilskog

How a taxidermized bull moose ended up in a wheelchair and on TV

No one knows exactly where the moose Thorvald comes from, but it was sometime before the war. At that time, NLH (now NMBU) had an employee who only worked with taxidermy. Tuntreet has spoken to a moose expert from before the war, and even he did not know the answer. The answer may be hidden in some dusty archive, but it is no longer in living memory.

What is known is that for over 70 years it was a small but pleasant part of the student life where it stood on the 4th floor of Urbygningen. A former student called him a “good friend who never went to the reading room”. Thorvald is said to have attended many parties in his time. This suggests that he was good company, because he was difficult to move around with a weight of several hundred kilos. And like all good local celebrities, he was on TV in the 80s and even had his own stunt moose!

Moose on stage?

How did his career as a celebrity moose start? One can imagine that the moose got tired of being at Ur and got stage fever – either that or students in the 70s were just as happy with bad ideas as we are today. The result was that the moose took part in both revues and nach. Another possible sign that the moose was tired of being a teaching object at Ur was that it remained standing in Festsalen for several weeks. It is possible that finishing a revue in the 70s was hard, and that helping a 400kg moose home from nach suddenly became a bit too much.

Moose on TV!

But how did Thorvald end up on TV? Early one morning at a Skogbrukerforeningen nach in ‘86, a group of people were sitting around talking about how to market UKA-86. Someone suggested signing up for the TV-programme ‘Ta-sjansen’. They quickly drew a sketch of the moose on a surfboard. On top of the moose were drawn two riders with long oars who would ensure that the entire program would keep its balance. When NRK actually chose the moose from among about 700 other applicants, they realized that putting the idea into practice would be easier said than done.

Not only was the moose too heavy to join himself, but it was actually owned by NLH and used in teaching. If an accident were to happen and the moose got wet, the teaching would be affected. Therefore, they quickly realized that they needed a stunt moose. After searching in Vollsskogen without success, they decided to build a stunt moose out of straw and polystyrene, with a moose head someone found up in Odalen.

Both moose were transported to Oslo in an equipage, each with their own limousine and horse trailers. In the front seat sat PB men in capes and top hats. Those who happened to be walking along Karl Johan that day got to experience some real Ås-Qltur! As you can see from the pictures, the performance itself went well, and they won the Environment Prize!

Unfortunately, they had only received the permission that was possible to get and not the one that was strictly speaking necessary to get. The Zoological Institute threatened to expel the UKE manager. Then those who were actually responsible had to stand up in Tuntreet, with sunglasses on, and say: “The UKE manager must be acquitted!”. Fortunately, the administration eventually found that it was basically quite funny and a “particularly successful PR stunt» and did nothing more about it.

Postscript

Unfortunately, the moose did not live happily ever after, because after many peaceful years, Thorvald found himself in mortal danger. Urbygningen building was to be renovated. Like many before, Statsbygg underestimated how heavy the moose was, and decided to destroy the moose instead of trying to move the animal out.

The moose was no longer as well known, and it looked like it was going to be a quiet end to his career. But those who remembered Thorvald’s glory years in the 80s, and as a faithful companion throughout their student years, could not let that happen. For example, they thought that they could put the moose on an electric wheelchair and use it to train dogs. In any case, it would benefit from returning to the forest and being able to move again. Due to deadlines, Statsbygg was surprisingly stubborn, but with the help of a nationwide media campaign it still worked.

Today Thorvald is in Høylandet and has regained his mobility with the help of an electric wheelchair. He trains dogs and participates in the Norwegian National Championships in revue. A well-deserved retirement life! Have you read this article and regretted never meeting moose? Then we have some good news; Rumor has it that Thorvald will return to Ås if he gets the welcome he deserves!