Soviet Union tamed hundreds of war moose against Finland during Winter War

During 1920-30 in Soviet Union a famous animal scientist Peter Manteifel came up with the idea of training moose to act as a war animals. The calves, as they were born, got familiar with humans and were trained not to react on gunshots. In the end, the experiment failed, but according to some sources the moose were the reason for Red Army to endure the beginning of the Winter War (1939-1940).

The scientist, Peter Mantefei, believed that the moose would suit better as war animals than horses when the combats happened around rural areas with swamps and forests. Plus, the footprints wouldn't be as suspicious as the horse tracks. Mantefei stated that it'd be a good idea to take advantage of the war moose, because the animals were also capable of moving around in difficult terrains and carrying heavy loads.

During the years of 1932-1937 in the district of Volossova the No. 3 Special Zoo had over hundred employees working with the moose training. Using special techniques the moose were taught to obey certain commands - like identifying if the person was speaking Russian or Finnish. Eventually some moose could tell the difference from about 0.6 miles/1 km away.

In the year 1939 there were already over 1 500 trained war moose. At the same time the war cavalry was trained to ride the moose. According to some sources, during the first years after the Winter War, the Finnish hunters were afraid because on their trips they came across multiple moose acting strangely and attacking them despite the sounds of gunshots.

Eventually the experiment failed, because even if the moose had certain advantages in comparison with horses, they could not be trained to move around in large groups. They were still used in the combats of Winter War, and many Russian sources claim that they were the reason Soviet Union could endure the first moments of the war.

During the WW2 some of the moose were sent to Belarus, but the majority were left in the Special Zoo. One of the German missiles hit the Zoo near Leningrad (st. Petersburg) and it burned down. A small amount of the moose managed to escape, but they weren't used after the incident.

Cat tax!