Scottish reindeer © Cairngorm Reindeer
The story so far
As founder member of The Reindeer Trust I have first hand experience of some of the challenges that face reindeer in our rapidly changing world. For the past 40 years I has been actively involved in the daily care and upkeep of Britain’s only herd of free ranging reindeer, The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd.
My passion and knowledge of reindeer has taken me to far reaching parts of the world to encounter other herds of reindeer and it was through these experiences that I have seen strong similarities between problems facing the reindeer in Scotland and reindeer elsewhere.
by Tilly Smith
Scottish reindeer © Cairngorm Reindeer
Geographically isolated herds
Reindeer in Kamchatka © Tilly Smith
The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd is not dissimilar to other reindeer herds that are geographically isolated from cross breeding with new gene pools. There are a number of reindeer herding communities, particularly in northern boreal forest or taiga that have been isolated for many decades from other reindeer herds and bringing in new animals for breeding will be very expensive and often impossible.
As any animal breeder knows, good breeding and sound genetics is very important for the health of animals and so where inbreeding is potentially a problem, how are these people going to address it in their isolated environments?
The Reindeer Trust, in collaboration with The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd propose to develop the techniques of assisted breeding in reindeer, procedures that at present are primarily confined to other domestic animals like cattle, sheep and goats, but could be adapted to reindeer. The knowledge gleaned from the Cairngorm Reindeer work would then be made freely available to other reindeer herding communities that may be interested in pursuing this type of breeding to introduce new genetics.
Sami reindeer, Norway © B&C Alexander /Arcticphoto.com
Impact of climate change on reindeer herds
The arctic and sub-arctic areas of the world are some of the most sensitive when it comes to problems associated with climate change. These areas are warming up much faster than any other area in the world and already significant problems are being encountered across the tundra and northern boreal forest.
Melting permafrost, unexplained ‘sink holes’ in the tundra, vanishing pack ice, rapid freeze/ thaw of snow and invasions of insects/arachnids associated with more southerly climes are all effects of climate change.
Tuvan reindeer herders © B&C Alexander /Arcticphoto.com
Tuvan reindeer herder © B&C Alexander /Arcticphoto.com
For the past 30 years the increase in tick (Ixodes ricinus) related illnesses amongst the Cairngorm Reindeer have been recorded year on year and as a herd located quite far south they were probably one of the first free ranging herds to experience these problems.
During my travels to other reindeer herding areas and experience from our own reindeer herd in Scotland I have seen first hand evidence of tick presence on reindeer during spring, summer and autumn.
Through research, increased awareness and knowledge exchange, The Reindeer Trust aims to help reindeer herds throughout the northern hemisphere to understand, identify and treat tick related diseases.
Scottish reindeer © Cairngorm Reindeer
Outreach and knowledge sharing
Orok reindeer herder © B&C Alexander /Arcticphoto.com
The Reindeer Trust will engage with scientific bodies and interested individuals to study and quantify data collected from the Cairngorm Reindeer. As the Trust develops, we hope to foster such partnerships, with the results of this work to be shared with the reindeer herding community across the world.
Visitors with reindeer in Scotland © Cairngorm Reindeer
Visitors with reindeer in Scotland © Cairngorm Reindeer
In time and when we have built up sufficient resources we would like to link up with the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre, to fund opportunities to take reindeer to visit care homes and hospices in the North of Scotland. Meeting reindeer can be a very relaxing, social and therapeutic experience for residents.
In the future, we would also like to be able to financially support groups, in the form of grants, to be able to experience reindeer at close hand by making a visit to the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd affordable for them.