Reindeer Blog

(Helsingin sanomat) Olli Pulju, 49, and his hired man Pasi Salmi, 26, are tending a herd of reindeer in Särkikoskenmaa, northeast of the village of Kersilö in Sodanylä, in Finnish Lapland. The herd is feeding on a patch of forest in the middle of a vast swamp. The world’s fourth largest mining company Anglo American [...]

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 [...]

(Source: Helsingin Sanomat) Visiting Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj has asked Finland for help in revitalising the country’s waning reindeer herding livelihood. Reindeer have been raised in Mongolia for about 3,000 years, but their numbers have dwindled to just over 1,000 animals.  During a meeting with Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi (Centre), President Elbegdorj asked if Finland [...]

(Video Bruce Forbes) The Arctic Centre of Finland is Finland’s national arctic research centre. Researchers at the Arctic Centre have been carrying out research on the Yamal Peninsula with Nenets reindeer herders for many years primarily under the theme of Global Change and Land use change. Videos and Photos from this years field work on [...]

Farmers and herders in Northern Finland have threatened to shoot reindeer from Norway.  “Between December 2009 and May 2010, we have counted, and sent back about 4200 Norwegian reindeer, ” said Assistant Police Chief in Peräpohjola police in Finland, Ossi Hyvönen.  Hyvönen estimated the damage to pastures to be as much as 120,000 Euros, just [...]

Finland’s largest processor of reindeer meat, Lapin Liha, is to begin to import reindeer meat from the Yamal Peninsula. This will signal the first time that Yamal reindeer meat is imported to a country that already has a domestic reindeer meat industry. Lapin Liha stated to the media that this was necessary as there was [...]

Finland’s rare wild forest reindeer may be facing total extinction, says the Finnish Hunters` Association. The group is calling for Finland and the EU to jointly protect the wild reindeer by further regulating the population of large predators. The sharp drop in the number of wild Finnish forest reindeer (Rangifer tarandus fennicus) is attributed to [...]

On Sunday Anne Ollila became the first woman to head the Reindeer Herders’ Association of Finland. Both she and the reindeer herding sector face great challenges, writes the daily Lapin Kansa: “The challenges are not insurmountable because a Finn never leaves a reindeer in the lurch. Lapland wouldn’t be Lapland without reindeers. The reindeer herding [...]

(Source: Helsingin Sanomat) In-car satellite navigation systems will start issuing warnings of possible reindeer on Finnish highways. The experiment set to start this autumn relates to a Ministry of Transport and Communications project, the aim of which is to cut the number of reindeer accidents in half. Reindeer may not have the bulk and potentially lethal [...]

(Source – Metsähallitus / NRK Sami Radio) Metsähallitus and three Sámi reindeer herders from Nellim in Finnish Lapland have settled their disagreement, formerly under review in various courts of law and the UN Human Rights Committee. An agreement between Metsähallitus and Kalevi, Eero and Veijo Paadar specifies which state-owned lands in Nellim are to be available [...]