The fantastic fauna of the north

Born to be wild

Finland is Europe's most heavily forested nation, with woodland covering over three-quarters of its area. Canada – home to Cimcorp North America – is also characterized by boreal forest, or taiga, which covers almost 60% of the country.

All those trees form the perfect habitat for an incredible range of animals and birds. The subarctic climate of most of the taiga – with a large temperature range across the seasons – means that these creatures have to be highly adaptable.

Further north, wildlife inhabiting the Arctic Circle – which experiences midnight sun in mid-summer and polar night in mid-winter – has to be even more resilient.

Please scroll down to continue the story.

Bewitching
bears

The fur of the brown bear comes in various shades and in Canada this fascinating animal is known as the grizzly due to its distinctive ‘grizzled’ hairs – dark at the base and creamy at the tips.

Bears have long been hunted. U.S. President Theodore (‘Teddy’) Roosevelt’s refusal to shoot a captured bear on a hunting trip in 1902 was the inspiration for Teddy Bears. Of the 200,000 brown bears left in the world, only 14,000 live in Europe.

Furry foxes

It may look like a Walt Disney creation but the Arctic fox – also known as the polar fox or snow fox – is incredibly tough. The animal’s fluffy fur – brownish in summer and white in winter – not only provides camouflage but also keeps it toasty warm.

Arctic foxes raise their young – arriving in litters of up to 14 pups – in complex underground dens and tunnels that can extend to as much as 1,000 square meters. Still abundant in Canada, wild Arctic foxes number just a handful in Finland today.

Magnificent
moose

The moose, or elk, is the largest species in the deer family although – unlike most deer – it is solitary and not a herd animal. Finland has around 100,000 moose, while Canada is estimated to have up to a million.

The antlers of North American moose tend to be larger than those of Eurasian moose. After the mating season, bull moose drop their antlers to conserve energy for the winter and grow a new set in the spring. 

In parts of Canada and Finland, highways are fenced off because collisions with moose are frequently fatal due to their high center of mass.

Busy beavers

The Eurasian beaver was hunted almost to extinction for its fur and castoreum, an oily scent gland secretion that was believed to be medicinal. Curiously, most of the Finnish population is the North American beaver, imported in 1937 before it was realized that they were a separate species.

A symbol of industry, this buck-toothed rodent is Canada’s national emblem and is minted on the Canadian nickel. A beaver’s teeth grow continuously so as not to be worn down by gnawing on trees. Living in the ponds that result from their dam building, beavers give their lodges underwater entrances to keep predators away.

Sonorous swans

Finland’s national bird, the whooper swan features on the Finnish one-euro coin. Along with its close relative, the North American trumpeter swan, it is one of the world’s heaviest flying birds. Both swans have a deep honking call – hence their monikers – and the musical noises made as they die are said to be the origin of the term ‘swan song’.

Today, most Finns and Canadians appreciate their indigenous species and are passionate about protecting their stunning wildlife.

Cimcorp is committed to developing sustainable solutions that minimize the impact of logistics on the natural world and its fascinating creatures.

Read more at visitfinland.com and destinationcanada.com.

Photo credits iStockphoto.