Moose Bologna? Yup, Moose Bologna…

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. When the population of moose explodes to an unmanageable size, you make moose bologna, and salami, and pepperoni. That’s exactly what is happening in Newfoundland, Canada, where an estimated 120,000 of the massive creatures are currently roaming the island with no natural predators.

If you’ve never seen a moose, you probably think they are like a deer. While they are definitely in the same family, Moos can weigh up to 1,2000 lbs and are known to be highly aggressive and territorial. The ballooning animal population has not only caused an estimated 600 car v moose crashes per year, but they are also causing serious havoc for the island’s delicate ecosystem.

The province has turned to hunting to try and control the population and in the first year, 85% of the 29,000 people who got hunting licenses went home with a moose. That means hundreds of tons of moose meat. While many people are making steaks and roasts, a cottage industry has popped up with people processing the meat into a new local delicacy, Moose Bologna. But, don’t think that it’s just a bunch of people killing for the fun of it. Along with helping with the overpopulation problem at least 500 of the hunters who killed a moose, donated the meat to be made into bologna with the sales of the products going to local charities.

Source: Atlas Obscura