| The northern reindeer (from Latin: Rangifer tarandus) — the only representative of the kind northern reindeer (Rangifer), is an even-toed mammal of the cervids family. It lives in the northern part of Eurasia and northern America. It not only eats grass and lichens, but also small mammals and birds. In Eurasia, the reindeer are domesticated and it is the main source of lively hood and materials for many polar nations. The northern people call the wild northern reindeer - sokzha.
Classification
There are several sub types of northern reindeer:
North American sub types
* Forest caribou (R. tarandus caribou) — initially spread in taiga regions of North America from Alaska to Newfoundland and Labrador. At present the natural habitat is significantly reduced, the sub type is considered in status as threatened (NT as per classification of IUCN).
* Caribou Grant (R. tarandus granti) — the north American sub type, which is spread in Alaska, Yukon and the North-west territories of Canada.
* Tundra caribou (R. tarandus groenlandicus) — spread in the north-west territories of Canada and in Nunavut, and also in Western Greenland.
* Caribou Pearyi (R. tarandus pearyi) — spread in the North islands of Nunavut and North-West territories of Canada.
* Caribou of the Queen Charlotte Islands, or the Dawson Caribou (R. tarandus dawsoni) — the extinct sub type inhabited the Graham islands, one of the biggest islands of the archipelago of the Charlotte islands at the Pacific ocean coast of Canada (Britain Columbia).
Eurasia sub types
* Wild Northern reindeer (R. tarandus tarandus) — an inhabitant of the Arctic tundra in Eurasia including the Scandinavian Peninsula of Northern Europe. In Russia, their population exceeds 1.2 million individuals (1999).
* Wild Northern reindeer or Finnish Northern reindeer (R. tarandus fennicus) — found in the wild form only in two regions of the Scandinavian Peninsula, and also in Karelia. A small population inhabits the center of South Finland. The Karelian population goes sufficiently deep into Russia; Questions about the relation between the eastern representatives of this population to this sub type is still open. This type is introduced into the Red book of Russia.
* Shitsebergen Northern reindeer (R. tarandus platyrhynchus) — Inhabitants of the islands of the Shpitsebergen archipelago, at present it is the smallest populated sub type of Northern reindeers.
* Novaya Zemlya reindeer (Rangifer tarandus pearsoni) — an isolated population, which inhabitant the Islands of the Archipelago of New Zemlya. The number of reindeers in 1981 in Yuzhnom Island was about 6 thousand individuals. This sub type is added into the Red book of Russia.
* Arctic Northern reindeer (R. tarandus eogroenlandicus) — fully extinct animals which were inhabitants of Eastern Greenland up to the beginning of the 20th century.
Reindeer farming is animal husbandry which is engaged in the breeding and usage of Northern reindeers.
It is not known for certain where and who domesticated northern reindeers for the first time. The breeding practice of northern reindeers became famous around 1000 BC from Siberia through the Northern European part of Russia to Scandinavia. At present, many small nations of the North, Siberia and Far East of Russia including nentsi, komi-izhemtsi, hanti, dolgani, evenki, chukchi and koryaki are involved in the breeding of reindeers. Saams are involved in the breeding of reindeers in Norway, Sweden and Finland. The high mobility of flocks due to the status of the pasture and accessibility of fodder is peculiar for the breeding of reindeers. Reindeers may reside in northern taiga, forest tundra, and tundra based on pasture. Respectively the breeding of reindeers may be in the forest, tundra and inter zonal. In the last example, during the summer season, a flock resides in the tundra, and during the winter season it moves into the forest tundra and Northern taiga. Each flock is watched by a family of reindeer breeders having a mobile residence: tent, canvas, yaranga. The basic task of reindeer breeders is for the protection of animals from the many carnivores and in time shifting of the pasture areas. Herding flocks of reindeers is carried out as per preplanned routes as a rule. During the summer-autumn period in the forest zone, reindeers may go around freely. During autumn, all animals are driven into special yards – squares for counting, marking of young ones, veterinary treatment and rejection of individual ones. Northern reindeers may be beaten directly inside the flock, as their congeners will not be scared. In modern times, snow mobiles are used for bringing the reindeers, but nentsi and evenki traditionally use reindeers as transportation animals. As northern reindeers survive the natural climatic conditions, during which other domestic animals as a rule do not survive, in the 20th century, domesticated animals are brought to Greenland, Canada and Alaska. Though the local native people were hunting them but never handled them. Small flocks of Northern reindeers were brought to even the sub Antarctic Islands like South Georgia and Kergelin, where basically research people hold them. |
