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.

The ongoing discussion between reindeer herders and farmers in the Alta region specifically (but elsewhere too) is again in the media. A former state secretary with responsibility for reindeer husbandry

Vostok Media reported that reindeer from Chukotka were to be brought to Kamchatka to revive reindeer husbandry there which has been in difficulty since the 1990’s..
PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKIY. 22 October. VOSTOK-MEDIA. Parliament of Kamchatskiy krai is going to increase population of reindeer which is now in bad condition.
As Minister of Agriculture and Trade of Kamchatskiy Krai Andrey [...]

(Pic - Johan Mathis Gaup) NRK has been full of a story this week that is just south of Kautokeino / Guovdageaidnu. This is the time of year that reindeer herds are migrated back to the interior and their winter pastures, as the temperature drops. Two large herds have become mixed together - in total [...]

So said reindeer herder Johan Mikkel Haetta as he complained that the bottom has fallen out of the reindeer antler market. Used in the large market in the Far East for aphrodisiacs, reindeer antlers have been an important supplemental source of income for reindeer herders (especially in parts of Russia). The availability of synthetic aphrodisiacs [...]

While much has been made of Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s lack of international experience (especially after a poor performance in an interview with CBS’s Katie Couric), it should be noted that what experience she does have, has a reindeer herding connection…
One of the few politicians she actually has met from Russia (Putin’s rearing [...]

ЯКУТСК, 29 июля. В Республике Саха (Якутия) выясняются причины гибели 72 оленей в Горном улусе. Об этом РИА «Новости» сообщил представитель Минсельхоза республики.
Как рассказал собеседник агентства, падеж оленей произошел в Горном улусе, где размещены две оленеводческие фермы, принадлежащие Якутской сельхозакадемии и компании «Таба». По предварительным данным, произошла вспышка бабезиоза, по-другому — пироплазмоза. (English Summary Below)

(Pic Barents Observer) With soaring energy prices, alternative energy from domestic sources are increasingly of interest to nation states. Espcially if they are touted as being ‘green’ (low CO2 emissions) and are promoted by state subsidy programs.

According to a story in NRK Sami Radio, 400 reindeer in the Pitea region in Sweden have had to be slaughtered as a result of a mysterious eye disease that has rampaged through a herd which leave afflicted reindeer completely blind.

(Picture / story Russia Today 21042008)Reindeer breeding accounts for 90% of the agriculture in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District in northern Russia. The industry’s export markets include Germany, Italy, Greece and Latvia. But producers are facing logistics problems trying to expand.Reindeer have been the main source of income for the Nenets people for centuries. There are [...]