Reindeer Blog

(Pic: Dan Robert Larsen / NRK) Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, The Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues visited a reindeer herd in the company of a reindeer herder from Karasjok, Johan Mathis Eira, among others. She compared the journey to the herd as like travelling in a fridge! Tauli-Corpus has been in Karasjok this [...]

Handölsdalens sameby har ansökt om skyddsjakt på fem järvar och fem lodjur. Ansökan ligger nu hos Naturvårdsverket. Beslut väntas komma inom kort. ”Över 50 000 renar blir rovdjursföda” Lennart Blindh som är ordförande i Handölsdalens sameby tror att varje sameby förlorar omkring 1000 renar varje år på grund av rovdjur. I Sverige finns det drygt [...]

(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 [...]

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 [...]

Maa- ja metsätalousministeriö on päättänyt maksaa 1 732 261 euroa korvauksia loppuvuonna (1.7-31.12.2007) aiheutuneista porovahingoista sekä alkuvuonna (1.1. – 30.6.2007) aiheutuneista porovahingoista siltä osin kuin niitä ei vielä oltu korvattu täysimääräisesti. (Summary in English: The Finnish Ministry of Forestry and Agriculture has decided to pay subsidies of 1 732 261 € to cover the damages [...]

(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 [...]

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, [...]