Reindeer running away

By NUNATSIAQ NEWS

IQALUIT — One of the few remaining reindeer herds in North America is in danger of disappearing.

In the last decade, about half the reindeer on Alaska’s Seward Peninsula have run away to join wild caribou.

The problem is rooted in the explosion of the Western Arctic caribou herd. The herd’s numbers have increased to around 400,000 animals, and as they push into reindeer-grazing territory the reindeer tend to join up with them.

Once reindeer mix in with caribou, there’s no getting them back. Reindeer and caribou look the same and are considered genetically identical.

“We can’t lose very many more,” said wildlife biologist Greg Finstad in an interview with the Anchorage Daily News. “We’re not talking about losing a viable industry. We’re just trying to salvage seed stock.”

Alaskan officials this winter applied to Washington for disaster funding for more than a dozen reindeer herders who have been hurt by the loss of their animals.

Share This Story

(0) Comments