Given all the recent bad news on the world stage, from tariffs wars to the war in Ukraine, it is no wonder Swedes are tuning in, for a moment of zen, to watch a livestream of “The Great Moose Migration” (loosely translated from the Swedish, “Den stora älgvandringen“).
The 24-hour event, which runs for 20 days straight, kicked off on Tuesday. It has been providing soothing entertainment for millions of Swedes each year, around this time, since it first aired in 2019. That first year, nearly one million Swedes tuned in to literally watch moose walk through forests and swim across the Ångerman River, all captured by remote cameras and drones, per the Associated Press. By last year, the sleeper hit had a following of a whopping 9 million viewers, who watched along on Sweden’s national public television’s streaming platform, SVT Play.
This year, the livestream started airing a week early, when the moose got an earlier-than-normal start due to warmer weather. From now until May 4, viewers can watch dozens of moose migrate to their favorite pastures located about 187 miles northwest of the country’s capital, Stockholm, per the AP.
Sure, there’s not much happening, but that’s why so many people find it relaxing. So much so, that over 78,000 Swedes have joined a Facebook group with fans sharing photos of their TV screens when moose appear, according to NBC News.
In fact, “The Great Moose Migration” is part of a larger global trend of relaxing, nature-oriented livestreams with not too much going on, which began in 2009 when NRK, Norway’s public broadcaster, aired a seven-hour train trip across the southern part of the country. That trend has even extended to the U.S., where thousands of captivated viewers have tuned in to watch two birds, Jackie and Shadow, via their bald eagle nest cam in California.
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