Reindeer were brought into the famous London toy shop 'Hamleys' this christmas. Photo: Darren Hector http://www.wildlifephotography.tv/the-saddest-pictures-ive-ever-taken/

In recent weeks, there has been quite a number of stories (in the english language media)  that feature reindeer being ‘mistreated’, coupled with news releases, video and protest letters. These protests have focussed on the treatment of reindeer by reindeer herders who depend on reindeer for their livelihoods and have been practicing the livelihood for millenia. This has become an annual event, as there is no time to tug on the heartstrings of potential donors than christmas, a celebration that has in the last century, again primarily in the english speaking world, become indelibly linked with reindeer (See story on the creation of this connection here on the Reindeer Portal).

These media driven events drop off the radar in January. However, those concerned about the mistreatment of reindeer might do well to take a lok at their own back yard. There are no figures for the number of reindeer that are being housed in the US and UK that are kept for the entertaining of the public, like circus acts dragged out for display. Reindeer are being housed  in an art gallery in Berlin, on a garage in Rovaniemi, Finland, running loose in strawberry fields in Santa Monica, California and even housed in London’s most famous  toy shop (albeit briefly, after protests about live penguins being on display got peoples’ attention). Numerous reineder parades are held across Britain these days – and their welfare is suffering.

These animals have been removed from their herd, forced to live with perhaps only one or two other reindeer, are housed in highly artificial and restricted conditions, and have to live in moist temperate climates outside the natural habitat in which they thrive.  So far, there have not been any major media campaigns by animal rights organisations to eliminate what is an obvious form of cruelty to reindeer, presumably it being deemed easier to target peoples far away about whose lives little is known.

Reindeer for Entertainment. Source: Animal Dramatics UK

Sami Ruismäki and his reindeer gave a sleigh ride to some children on the upper level of a parking garage in downtown Rovaniemi. The reindeer park will be open until Epiphany. Photo: TIMO LINDHOLM, Source Helsingin Sanomat

Tourism has brought reindeer to the centre of Rovaniemi. Behind the project are Rovaniemen Kehitys Oy, a company promoting tourism in Rovaniemi, and local entrepreneurs, according to a report in Helsingin sanomat.

The Sirmakko family has set up a reindeer park in downtown Rovaniemi, on the upper deck of the parking garage adjacent to the City Hotel. Cars have been removed to the floor below.
”The reindeer will be kept in the reindeer parking garage until Epiphany. Depending on the day, the number of reindeer on the adventure level will be around six”, says entrepreneur Taina Riskilä.

”Entrepreneurs and tourists alike have long wished to see reindeer in the centre of the city”, claims coordinator Risto Saukkoriipi from Rovaniemen Kehitys.

”Today’s tourism is so hectic that not all visitors have time to go to the nearest reindeer farm ten kilometres away from Rovaniemi. They are happy if they have a chance to see some reindeer for example after having been to a restaurant. Tourists’ life is evening-oriented”, Saukkoriipi argues.
According to Adjunct Professor Mauri Nieminen, who works as a senior researcher at the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute, the reindeer park marks a new nadir in reindeer herding degradation.
”A parking garage full of petrol fumes is not a natural environment for reindeer but is bound to cause suffering to those animals”, Nieminen charges.

The Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute has launched a study to find out how the increased feeding on farms and the constant proximity of human beings affect the disposition of reindeer.
”Farm reindeer are more domesticated. We suspect that if they are released into the wild they could more easily be hit by a car or be caught by predators”, Nieminen explains.

In the previous winter season, a total of 152,000 out of Finland’s approximately 200,000 reindeer were fed on farms or in the forest if necessary.

This being the season – it is worth revisiting this story on the Reindeer Portal that unpicks the story of Santa Claus, reindeer, and the appropriation of the cultural elements of Sami reindeer husbandry to service the needs of the tourist industry, most especially in Rovaniemi, Finland. Read the story here.

Kiviniemi had referred Elbegdorj to Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sirkka-Liisa Anttila (Centre), who says that she had discussed the matter with the Mongolian President. Anttila had promised both reindeer semen and embryos to help diversify the gene pool.  President Elbegdorj also discussed reindeer during a visit on Thursday to the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute (RKTL) where he was briefed by the institute’s head of research Mauri Nieminen.

“Sending semen is possible but it is not easy”, Nieminen told Helsingin Sanomat. He added that it is usually done only for research purposes.
While it is possible to artificially inseminate reindeer, there are complications involved. “Reindeer are a semi-wild animals”, Nieminen pointed out.
“It is not easy to determine when a reindeer is in heat, an especially when it reaches the climax, which is when the semen should be collected.”

This autumn’s period of heat is already over, which means that new reindeer sperm would not be available until next year. The semen would be frozen for transport.
Nieninen notes that it might actually be easier to deliver live reindeer to Mongolia than reindeer semen. Russia has sent reindeer to Mongolia in past years, and Finnish reindeer have travelled to European countries and to Japan.
Finnish reindeer are considered quite suitable for Mongolia, and should breed well. “There is only one reindeer species in the world”, Nieminen said. There are seven subspecies, one of which is the Finnish forest reindeer, and another is the North American caribou. They can all breed with each other.

Reindeer have been raised in Mongolia for thousands of years. The population is currently so small that inbreeding is a problem. There are many reasons for the decline, but the reindeer herding culture has remained. “People ride them, they give milk, they are used in fishing and hunting.”
Only a third of the Mongolian reindeer population are female, while in Finland females account for 80 per cent of reindeer. “Artificial insemination does not help if there are no female reindeer”, Nieminen points out. “Perhaps we should first go to Mongolia to check out the structure of the population.”

Mongolia is a very poor country and is relatively far away from everything. In addition to reindeer herding, it has plenty of copper and uranium resources, as well as gold and coal.
It is important for Finland that Mongolia should support Finland’s bid to become a rotating member of the UN security Council.
Presidents Elbegdorj and Tarja Halonen agreed that the countries are united by reindeer, the forest industry, and cold winters. Last winter harsh weather conditions destroyed 17 per cent of the approximately 800,000 head of cattle raised by the country’s nomads.

Foster said: “Like puppies, reindeer should be kept for life, not just for Christmas.”

Picture : James Marshall. Reindeer imported to Britain for Santa’s grottoes and festive parades are dying prematurely after exposure to diseases from British farm animals, a senior government vet has warned.

An official investigation has revealed a sharp increase in deaths in young reindeer, also linked to bad diet, poor welfare and the stress of being uprooted from their natural habitat.

Dr Aiden Foster, who carried out the research at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), said the deer, which normally live to 12 years, were badly suited to life in Britain. He said: “Reindeer are highly specialised Arctic deer. The recent fashion of keeping them in captive situations many degrees south of their normal range is fraught with health and welfare issues.”

The warning comes amid greater commercial exploitation of the animals, which are now a common festive feature. Today, reindeer parades are planned in Birmingham and Middlesbrough, and others in cities across Britain.

About 500 of the animals have been imported in the past five years, taking advantage of a relaxation of quarantine rules. Some cases are detailed in quarterly bulletins published by the VLA’s network of regional laboratories. In the past year these have included:

• A two-year-old female kept on a farm near Shrewsbury, which died of malignant catarrhal fever — a sheep disease that causes mucus to pour from their muzzles. Reindeer are highly vulnerable to this.
• A herd of seven reindeer, from the same area, which contracted liver and gut flukes, probably from contact with farm animals.
• A reindeer kept near Winchester that died from lung infections.
• A 15-month-old animal killed by parasites and copper deficiency.

Reindeer owners are not obliged to notify the VLA of unusual deaths, so Foster is uncertain exactly how many reindeer there are in Britain, or how many have died, but he said the trend was worrying: “We have noticed a significant increase in the number of submissions of reindeer carcases and samples, and when we looked at the causes of death it was clear there were common factors.”

Earlier this year, Foster outlined his concerns in a paper given to the Veterinary Deer Society, and a lay version of his research is about to be published in Smallholder magazine. Foster hopes it will make farmers aware of the risks of buying reindeer, most of which are purchased for hiring out for festive parades and Santa’s grottoes in shopping centres around Britain.

Foster points out that reindeer suffer when removed from their natural life of roaming the tundra, eating fresh lichen and other plants and mingling with fellow reindeer. He said: “They are not like other livestock. It is very difficult to keep these animals here. They are semi-wild and vulnerable to the diseases and parasites carried by British farm animals.”

Foster says much of Britain’s farmland is unsuitable for reindeer and many owners simply lack the expertise to keep them. He warns that reindeer also carry microbes dangerous to humans, such as salmonella, campylobacter, E coli and yersinia.

Inexperienced owners are also at risk. In September this year, Kay Davies was gored by Mr Frosty, her 18-stone reindeer, after entering its pen while the creature was in rut, a period of high aggression.

Davies owns the firm Wedding Horses, based in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, and planned to rent Mr Frosty out for Christmas displays.

Davies, who has since had the reindeer destroyed, said: “I fed him the day before without a problem.”

Tilly Smith, owner of the Cairngorm reindeer herd and widely regarded as Britain’s authority on the animals, believes there is nothing inherently wrong in using the animals for such events.

She supplied a team of reindeer for the Christmas parade at Harrods earlier this month, with no ill effects. The creatures were part of her 150-strong herd, which since 1952 has roamed over hundreds of acres of Scottish mountains — a landscape chosen for its similarity to their native habitat.

She said: “When animals are imported, they have been taken from huge, semi-wild herds and then they are expected to live alone or in small groups in enclosed areas, often near other livestock. It’s no wonder they get sick.”

Foster said: “Like puppies, reindeer should be kept for life, not just for Christmas.”

Read story on Reindeer and Christmas here on the Reindeer Portal

Story Source: Jonathan Leake, Sunday Times, Nov 15 2009.

Источник: http://www.meteonovosti.ru/index.php?index=1&ts=090616134049

ITGEL founder Morgan Keay with Tsataan herders

The work of the Itgel Foundation was covered in a recent Voice of America radio programme. The Tsataan are an indigenous people living in Northern Mongolia,  south of the Sayan mountains in Russia, the region from which reindeer husbandry is said to have originated. Small herd size, poor economic prospects and diminished herd health along with a host of other issues, many of which are shared with other reindeer peoples, are faced by the Tsataan. The US and Mongolia based Itgel Foundation have been working for several years to address these challenges through a community centred approach.

You can download Voice of America MP 3 here

Source – VOA

Reindeer in Topolinoe, eating salt, during EALAT Information workshop

ЯКУТСК, 29 июля. В Республике Саха (Якутия) выясняются причины гибели 72 оленей в Горном улусе. Об этом РИА «Новости» сообщил представитель Минсельхоза республики.

Как рассказал собеседник агентства, падеж оленей произошел в Горном улусе, где размещены две оленеводческие фермы, принадлежащие Якутской сельхозакадемии и компании «Таба». По предварительным данным, произошла вспышка бабезиоза, по-другому — пироплазмоза. (English Summary Below)

«Работники якутской республиканской ветеринарно-исследовательской лаборатории по данному факту поставили правильный диагноз и определили эффективные средства помощи, — сказал представитель Минсельхоза. — В результате проведенных противоэпизоотических мероприятий заболевание было своевременно диагностировано, что позволило не допустить дальнейшего его распространения».

Собеседник агентства отметил, что это первый случай пироплазмоза в Якутии среди домашних оленей, хотя иксодиды (клещи) распространены почти повсеместно. «Однако местные клещи были «чистыми», то есть не зараженными возбудителями пироплазмоза, — отметил он. — По всей видимости, животные заразились от оленей, прибывших из других регионов страны, тем более, что в последнее время их было закуплено немало».

По его словам, возбудитель болезни прибыл вместе с переселенными животными и заразил местных клещей, а те, в свою очередь, животных якутской сельхозакадемии и компании «Таба».

«Сейчас выясняется, из какого именно региона зараза попала в Якутию. По мнению специалистов, распространению болезни способствовали жаркие дни. Олени содержались на огороженной территории, скученность и стала основной причиной быстрого заражения», — сказал представитель Минсельхоза республики.

Отметим, бабезиоз или пироплазмоз вызывается паразитами красных кровяных телец и передается от больного животного здоровому через пастбищных клещей. Rosbalt Nord

72 reindeer in the Gorny Kolyma ulus in Sakha Yakutia have died as a result of an outbreak of piroplasmosis. According to veterinary researchers, this is the first time that the disease (spread by ticks) has been found in domestic reindeer in Sakha (Yakutia), and suggestions are that reindeer imported from elsewhere in Russia are the culprit. Crowding of animals encourages its spread in a herd. In the Gorny Kolyma ulus there are two reindeer farms – one from the Yakutsk Agricultural Academy and the second is owned “Taba” agricultural company.

Piroplasmosis is also called babesiosis and is a malaria-like infection caused by several Babesia (B.) protozoa that parasitize red blood cells. Signs/Symptoms include fever, chills, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, and anemia. A blood test may reveal the parasite in red blood cells and a chronic mild infection occurs. Babesiosis is more severe, and sometimes fatal. The babesia protozoa is a zoonosis and can potensially be a threat to humans. The parasite infection can be treated when diagnosed. The disease is not diagnosed among reindeer in Norway. Several reindeer died of the infection of sp. Babesiosis divergens in Scotland in 1997-98. (Thanks to EALAT Phd student Eli Risten Nergård, for that)