Reindeer Blog

(Pic & Story NPI) In what researchers described as an extremely rare event, a polar bear has killed a reindeer on the islands of Svalbard late last year. According to a report from the Norwegian Polar Institute. The Polar Bear, a female, is one with a satellite transmitter attached, allowing researchers to monitor the bears [...]

The major US TV network was in Kautokeino / Guovdageaidnu, Norway recently, making a feature on reindeer husbandry and climate change. They interviewed the EALAT project (IPY endorsed Reindeer Herding Vulnerability Network Study) leader Ole Henrik Magga and have just aired the 2’50 video news piece. You can watch the video here

– Undersøkelsene våre viser at under ti prosent av simlene fikk kalv i år. I et normalår ligger tallet på rundt 80 prosent. Det gjør 2008 til det dårligste året for svalbardreinen siden 1996, sier forsker Audun Stien i NINA ved Polarmiljøsenteret i Tromsø i en pressemelding. – I februar hadde dyra vi målte 17 [...]

( Picture and original article: Metla) Kevät on aikaistunut viimeisen vuosikymmenen kuluessa Keski- ja Pohjois-Suomessa kahdella viikolla ja Etelä-Suomessa viikolla. Tulokset ilmenevät Metlan tutkimuksista, jotka on julkaistu kahdessa kansainvälisessä sarjassa. (Brief summary in English: Spring comes two week earlier in Finnish Lapland than ten years ago. This appears from the recent research made by Finnish Metsätutkimuslaitos [...]

(Source – Ed Struzik, The Province, see below) Warm, wet winters and hot, dry summers reduce numbers. In the summer of 1996, biologist Frank Miller was flying along the coast of Bathurst Island searching for Peary caribou, found only in the High Arctic of Canada, when he spied a dark spot on the sea ice. [...]

Sami reindeer herder Olav Mathis Eira was in London recently to make a direct appeal to the British Prime Minister. “Climate change is threatening our economy as reindeer herders. Because this is part of our traditional way of life, if the economy goes, probably the entire Sami culture would go with it.” The story was [...]

In a speech ‘Climate Change in a Polar Perspective’, in Beijing on 30th January, the Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said, Firstly, Arctic climate change will alter the flora and fauna of the region. This will have serious consequences, not least for indigenous peoples. Traditional reindeer herding and the way of life of these peoples will [...]

According to a report on the NRK Sami TV Oððasat 17.01.08, the pastures in all the Sami reindeer herding areas except Norrbotten are in a terrible condition. Due to the mild weather, ice has penetrated to the ground and covered plants and lichen with ice rendering them inedible. Reindeer owner from the Jingevarie sameby, Marianne [...]

With climate change expected to increase temperature fluctuations and variability most particularly in the Arctic, the population crash of the so called Peary caribou in the Canadian Arctic gives some insight to what happens to rangifer tarandus when pastures are locked out as a result of frequent freezing and thawing. In northwestern North America, recent warming [...]

Sweden will be badly hit by the effects of climate change, and should act without delay to adapt to the new reality. That was the stark message in a report presented to the government on Monday authored by Bengt Holgersson. Reindeer husbandry was singled out as a livelihood at risk and conflict between forest owners [...]