Arctic reindeer is another victim of global warming - they are getting smaller

Reindeer on an Arctic island near the North Pole is becoming smaller in size and it is attributed to a side-effect of climate change that has reduced winter food for the animals. The island is Svalbard, a chain of islands north of Norway.
The average weight of an adult reindeer has fallen to 48kg from 55kg in the 1990s and, in the opinion of experts, is a part of sweeping changes to Arctic life as temperatures rise.
This has been reported in nzherald.co.nz dated 12 December 2016.

The study was carried out at the James Hutton Institute in Scotland with Norwegian researchers who concluded that while warmer summers are great for reindeer, the winters are getting increasingly tough. The reason is that less chilly winters mean that once-reliable snows fall more often as rain that can freeze into a sheet of ice. This makes it harder for the herbivores to reach plant food.
Ultimately, some of them starve and females often give birth to stunted young.
In summer, however, plants flourish in a food bonanza that ensures healthy females more likely to conceive in autumn - a pregnancy lasts about seven months.
The wild herd studied at Svalbard, located about 1300-Km from the North Pole, had increased to about 1400 animals from 800 since the 1990s. This rise in population The means more competition for scarce food in winter. Arctic temperatures are rising faster than the world average due to a build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org
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Russian reindeer to be culled to arrest spread of anthrax

Due to the spread of anthrax disease in Russia, a decision has been taken to cull the population of reindeer. As indicated by a governor in Russia's far north, the reindeer population will be drastically reduced by 100,000. However, in the opinion of scientists, twice as many need to be culled.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 11 October 2016.

Reindeer herding is an important industry and livelihood for indigenous peoples in the Yamal-Nenets region and its governor has revealed that there was a need to cull about 100,000 reindeer this winter because of overpopulation that was straining a limited food supply, thereby, increasing the risk of anthrax infection.
This, incidentally, is the first anthrax outbreak in Yamal-Nenets since 1941 and, in July and August this year, the disease has already claimed the lives of a 12-year-old boy and more than 2,500 reindeer.
Scientists and officials attribute this revival of the “zombie infection” to abnormally high temperatures caused by global warming and climate change. In fact, thawing of the permafrost soil can release the frozen bacteria.
Regional authorities will buy the reindeer to be culled and process the meat. If suitable steps are not taken, there will be a mass die-off in the near future because the animals will not be able to survive against lack of fodder and various diseases.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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Nearly 250,000 reindeer to be culled in Russia by Christmas

The current population of 730,000 reindeer in the region of Yamelo-Nenets is 'unsustainable' and throws up risks of fresh outbreak of deadly anthrax disease unless there is a rapid cull. Hence, this region has taken a decision to slaughter a quarter of a million reindeer by Christmas because of over population.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 20 September 2016.

The reindeer will first be electrocuted by a high voltage charge to the forehead. Once immobilized, their antlers will be removed and their throats slit. Blood drained out from the animals are often sold to China for use in traditional medicines, including impotence cures for men.
The region that straddles the Arctic and is larger than France has seen three separate summer outbreaks of anthrax, which led to the death of a 12-year-old boy and 2,349 reindeer. The cause attributed was a hot weather which awoke an infection buried in the permafrost more than 70 years ago.
Incidentally, the region includes the gas-rich Yamal Peninsula and is well-known for its nomadic reindeer herders. There are warnings issued that this traditional way of life, which survived the Soviet era, is now under threat. The reindeer livestock numbers in Yamal are too high and the normal slaughtering season is November and December. THe plans that have been drawn up envisage a huge increase in the number of reindeer being killed.


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More than 300 wild reindeer killed by lightning strike in Norway

It was a natural disaster that has never been seen before when a lightning strike killed more than 300 wild reindeer in Norway. Aerial footage reveals the carcasses scattered across a small area on the Hardangervidda mountain plateau. The footage was released by the Norwegian Environment Agency and they have indicated that a total of 323 animals were killed and 70 of them were calves.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 29 August 2016.

It is not uncommon for reindeer or other wildlife to fall victim to lightning strikes, but the numbers in this case are staggering and have never been heard of before. Reindeer tend to stay very close to each other in bad weather, and that could explain how so many were killed at one time during the storm. Thousands of reindeer usually migrate across the barren Hardangervidda plateau with the change of season.
This, incidentally, happens to be the second time this month that a large group of animals has been killed by lightning. On 25 August, a total of 38 sheep died after they were struck by lightning in Kanchipuram in India.


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