Reindeer Blog

Russian scientists have doubts over whether global warming is here to stay and whether it’s man made. But for the Saami in Russia’s north, the mild winters already pose a threat to their traditional way of life. All around the Arctic, the effects of a temperature rise are visible, and native [...]

by Catherine Marciano.  JARFJORD, Norway (AFP) – On Norway’s border with Russia, the consequences of climate change are affecting the reindeer population as rising temperatures hit food stocks and industry growth eats into vital grazing land.
“Over the past three years, I’ve had to give some hay to my 800 reindeer during the coldest months. It’s more expensive [...]

(By Luke Harding, The Guardian) For 1,000 years the indigenous Nenets people have herded their reindeer along the Yamal peninsula. But their survival in this remote region of north-west Siberia is under serious threat from climate change as Russia’s ancient permafrost melts.
t is one of the world’s last great wildernesses, a 435-mile long peninsula of [...]

The state Swedish television network SVT recently released a 6 part documentary that is a tour of various peoples and places in the Arctic that are already being affected by climate change, with a Swedish Sami host. While a number of such documentaries are being made these days, what marks this one out is its [...]

(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 [...]

(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.
Flying [...]

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 covered in [...]

(Picture Eric Post)  Global warming may be the reason for a decrease in the number of caribou calves being born in West Greenland, U.S. researchers said.Biologist Eric Post said data show the timing of peak food availability no longer corresponds to the timing of caribou births, the university said Friday in release. 
The study, conducted in [...]

February 6th is Sami National Day in all the countries where the Sami live and is a day for a pan Sami celebration of the Sami people. The day in Sweden was overshadowed for some by the crisis that persists in reindeer pastures – many reindeer herders have been forced to apply for aid to feed their reindeer after [...]

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 be [...]