Migratory reindeer part of daily life in northern Europe
Print Edition
Reindeer are featured on Christmas cards and in movies worldwide this time of year, galloping across the sky with Santa’s sleigh in tow.
But on Europe’s northern fringe, the migratory mammals are part of everyday life all year round as they roam the fells of Lapland — the Arctic homeland of the indigenous Sami people of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.
Here are some interesting things you may not have known about reindeer: Of course reindeer can’t fly but they can run quickly over long distances.
“Reindeer are fast, but not as fast as horses,” says Jonas Vannar, a Sami reindeer herder from Jokkmokk in Swedish Lapland. “They can easily travel 40 to 50 kilometers a day if they have to.”
The migratory animals can roam 200 kilometers or more in the spring from their winter grazing grounds in the forests to reach calving grounds high in the mountains.
“On hot summer days, they migrate vertically ... until they reach snow patches where the temperature is lower, then back to the valleys, to graze during the midnight sun,” says Vannar.
Reindeer are also uniquely adapted to survive the harsh Lapland winters, explains Mari Heikkila, director of Ranua Wildlife Park in Finland.
“The hair of the reindeer is hollow, so there is air between the hairs and also inside the hair, and their winter coat is really thick,” Heikkila says.
That makes them super-insulated, one reason why Samis have always made their winter clothes from reindeer hides.
Reindeer also have large hooves compared to moose or deer.
When the snow is deep, they spread their hooves and make them even wider to stop themselves from sinking in.
Reindeer eyes change color between summer and winter to adapt to the widely varying levels of light in the high north.
“The reflection from reindeer eyes is yellow-green in summer ... but deep blue in winter,” says Professor Karl-Arne Stokkan.
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