In August 2016, a park ranger stumbled upon 323 dead wild tundra reindeer in Norway’s remote Hardangervidda plateau. They had been killed in a freak lightning event. But instead of removing the carcasses, the park decided to leave them where they were, allowing nature to take its course – and scientists to study this island […]
Tag: reindeer
Svalbard reindeer rebounding better than hoped after nearly going extinct
Reindeer and caribou populations have been declining dramatically over the past few decades. But one subspecies of reindeer seems to be doing better, anew study has found. The wild Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus), which lives in the harsh archipelago of Svalbard off Norway in the Arctic Ocean, was nearly hunted to extinction in the […]
Rich trophy hunters pay to shoot reindeer in wild – say it’s ‘magical’ experience
Rich trophy hunters are paying to shoot reindeer in the wild. Brits are being offered the chance to join a trip where they can stalk and kill real-life Rudolphs in a national park. The animals being targeted by trophy hunters belong to the last surviving population of wild reindeer in Europe and roam in two […]
More than 100 reindeer killed by freight trains in Norway ‘bloodbath’
More than 100 reindeer have been killed by freight trains in northern Norway in the past days in what has been called a senseless tragedy. One train killed 65 deer on a track on Saturday while 41 died between Wednesday and Friday, the public broadcaster NRK reported late on Sunday. “I’m so angry that I’m […]
Reindeer shrink as climate change in Arctic puts their food on ice
Reindeer are shrinking on an Arctic island near the north pole as a result of climate change that has curbed the amount of winter food available to the animals, scientists said on Monday. The average weight of adult reindeer on Svalbard, a chain of islands north of Norway, fell from 55kg (121lb) to 48kg (106lb) […]
More than 300 reindeer killed by lightning in Norway
A lightning strike killed more than 300 reindeer in Norway’s Hardangervidda region last Friday. At their last count, officials of the Norwegian Environment Agency reported the death of a herd of 323 reindeer of both sexes, including 70 calves. Five reindeer were severely injured in the storm and had to be euthanized. Lightning strikes have killed […]
Hedmark, Norway
I’ll be off to Hedmark again before I am finished with the posts from my trip last week. Here are the final pictures and now it is only videos to go. This post features amongst others Siberian Jay, Three-toed Woodpecker, Parrot Crossbill, Slavonian Grebe, Waxwing, Cuckoo and Willow Tit (which was seen in an as […]
Dodging Wind Farms and Bullets in the Arctic
Troms County, Norway – A lone reindeer emerges from the forest, prompting the Sami herders to bring their snowmobiles to a stop in the middle of a clearing. All three are bundled in sheepskin hats and wool capes, called luhka, against the chill wind of a late January morning in the Norwegian Arctic. Johann Anders […]