Reindeer Blog

(Pic and story Ságat) By using GPS transmitters on reindeer in the Skæhkere reindeer husbandry district in southern Norway, reindeer herders hope that in time it will be easier to document their large losses caused by predators. Herders in this district in Trøndelag spend a great deal of time looking for carcasses for documentation purposes.

(Pic - Torill Kolbu) There was an interesting interview with south Sami reindeer herder Jon Anders Mortensson in Ostlendingen today. Mortensson herding area is the Elgå reindeer district in the mountainous region of southern Norway. In this region there are six herding families, in all about 35 people, herding around 3000 reindeer.
Mortensson stressed the importance [...]

Predation is a serious problem for reindeer herders in the spring and early summer after calving season, as young calves are particularly vulnerable to predation. Kristian Jåma, a Sami reindeer herder from Sør-Fosen in Sør-Trøndelag region said to NRK Sami Radio that he feels that his claims about predation loss are not believed. In a [...]

(Wolverine - Gulo Gulo) The number of reindeer killed by predators rose sharply last year. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry reimbursed reindeer herders more than two and a half million euros for lost livestock, the highest figure in 20 years.
The figure was one-fifth higher than the year before. Herders sought recompense for more than [...]

Reindeer have been much in the media this last week. Several thousand reindeer from the Swedish side of the border have moved into Trøndelag region in Norway, in search of better pastures, according to this NRK report. This has meant a lot of extra work for reindeer herders on the Norwegian side of the border, [...]

By STEPHEN CASTLE / The New York Times SUOMUSSALMI, Finland — Close to the tiny Finnish village of Saaravaara, bloody tracks lead through the snow to the frozen carcass of  an 8-month-old male reindeer lying on its side, its neck torn, its  underbelly ripped open.
Within minutes, Ilmari Schepel, a local agriculture official, identified the culprit: a wolf. [...]

(Pic: NRK Sami Radio) And no, they were not being careless.. According to a report in todays NRK Sami Radio, reindeer herders in Finnmark reported 45800 reindeer as being lost and of this number, made applications for compensation for 37,159 because of losses to predators. The County paid compensation for only 8 637 reindeer amounting to a total of 20.6 [...]

Due to the unseasonably mild winter conditions, including several days of rain and snow free conditions across the northern reindeer herding districts of Finland (Utsjoki, Inari and Enontekio) round ups were delayed in many reindeer herding cooperatives according to Lapin Kansa (30.12.2007), the regional newspaper.  In some cases, delays of up to a month were recorded.
The delays [...]

(Pic - Statens Naturoppsyn) Last week, the Green Warriors of Norway (Norges Miljøvernforbund) a Bergen based environmental organization announced that “Reindriftsnæringen svindler staten for rovdyrerstatning” , that reindeer husbandry was swindling the state over predatation compensation and called for an investigation. The Vice Chair of NBR NRL (the Sami Reindeer Herders Assn. of Norway) welcomed the call for [...]

Outside reindeer husbandry, predation is not generally considered to be a serious problem. Figures from the Troms reindeer husbandry region demonstrate that is represents a considerable challenge to reindeer husbandry and one that has real economic costs associated with it. Reindeer herders claims amounted to 10 Million NOK (1.2 Million EURO) but the County awarded only 4.5 [...]