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Concept
Kostroma Moose Farm
Summary
Kostroma Moose Farm (Костромска́я лосефе́рма) is an experimental farm in Kostroma Oblast, Russia, where a herd of moose is kept, primarily for milk production; the farm supplies moose's milk to a nearby sanitorium. It is located near the village of Sumarokovo in Krasnoselsky District of Kostroma Oblast, some 25 km east of the city of Kostroma.
As early as 1869, the Russian zoologist and explorer Alexander von Middendorff wrote to the Tsar's Government:
Even the civilized Europe these days has failed to domesticate the moose,
the animal that doubtlessly can be of great utility. Our government ought to apply all possible efforts toward the domestication of this animal. This is doable. The reward would be great, and so would be the glory.
The idea of the moose domestication did not get much traction in Tsarist Russia. However, it reappeared in the 1930s’ Soviet Union; it was suggested at the time that moose cavalry could be efficiently used even in the deep snow. In 1934, the Soviet Government's Nature Reserve Committee ordered creation of moose reserves (zapovedniks)
and moose breeding centers (лосиные питомники). Experimental work, initiated by Petr Alexandrovich Manteufel (Петр Александрович Мантейфель),
took place at a number of locations: in Yakutia, at the Serpukhov Experimental Game Farm, and in the Buzuluksy Bor Nature Reserve (Бузулукский бор) in Orenburg Region. This experimental work included mounting pistols, spikes, and shields to the antlers of a moose, as well delegating moose labor to tasks of hauling cannons and long range artillery.
However, the work was not finished in time for World War II,
and when the war came, the entire idea of cavalry as a combat force was swept away.
After the war, the idea of domesticating the moose was pursued again, with the focus on agricultural use. It was thought that the moose, whose very name means twig eater in an Algonquian language, could provide an ideal way of improving the utilization of
the biomass production potential of the taiga of northern and eastern Russia, which are not particularly suitable for either food crop planting or conventional animal husbandry.
Official source
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