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Reindeer Ranching in Fennoscandia Mountain Reindeer Migrate Con- GEORGE W

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Reindeer Ranching in Fennoscandia Mountain Reindeer Migrate Con- GEORGE W more sedentary and spend most of the year within the forest. Reindeer Ranching in Fennoscandia Mountain reindeer migrate con- GEORGE W. SCO!I’TER siderable distances and use al- Range Ecologist, Canadian Wildlife Service, Department pine areas as summer pasture. of Northern Affairs and National Resources, Edmonton, Mountain reindeer have short, Alberta. triangular faces and are some- what smaller than the forest Highlight mately 40,000,OOO hectares (98,- reindeer, which have more rec- Reindeer in Fennoscandia make 840,000 acres) and in 1963 they tangular faces. Also, some work- use of a forage resource which produced a revenue of $5,590,000 ers feel there are marked be- would otherwise be of limiied value. haviour differences. The taxo- This article discusses the status of (Canadian) . In Sweden and reindeer ranching, ifs economics, and northern Norway the ownership nomic status of these two groups the attempts fo improve the animals of reindeer is largely restricted is now being investigated. and grazing practices. to Lapps. There is no such re- Rangelands striction in southern Norway or In Russia and Fennoscandia Approximately 40,000,OOO hec- Finland. Sweden has 50 grazing hundreds of thousands of do- tares of rangelands are available districts or siidas, with 34 in the mesticated reindeer utilize the for use by reindeer. Summer mountains and 16 in the forests. rangelands of the Arctic and rangelands are abundant and re- About 2,800 families make their Subarctic regions. Since vast ceive light to moderate use only. living totally or partially from areas in northern Alaska and Research and management per- the reindeer industry. In Nor- northern Canada are suitable for sonnel seem to agree that the way 500 families own approxi- similar production, I have al- abundance of winter pasture is mately 150,000 reindeer. Rein- ways had a strong desire to es- the factor that sets the upper deer are owned by companies in tablish closer contacts with co- limit on the number of reindeer southern Norway. In Finland workers in Northern Europe and within many districts. Many some 500 families make their liv- to study their research tech- winter ranges that I saw ap- ing from the reindeer industry. niques and management meth- peared to be used to capacity; Additional families in the 62 ods. My employer, the Canadian with some regions overutilized, grazing districts in Finland re- Wildlife Service of the Depart- while others were only lightly ceive part of their income from ment of Northern Affairs and grazed. More emphasis on bet- the reindeer industry. Most of National Resources, made it pos- ter distribution of animals on the rangelands used by reindeer sible for me to travel to Norway, the ranges, with more use of within the three countries are Sweden, and Finland for this lightly grazed areas and protec- grazed without payment of fees. purpose during the summer of tion or reduced use on over- 1964. I am indebted to Mr. Both the mountain reindeer grazed ranges, would seem de- Skuncke, Dr. Ahti, and Dr. and the forest reindeer have sirable. Skjenneberg who provided me been domesticated in Fenno- In winter, the reindeer, like with well-planned itineraries scandia. Forest reindeer are the wild caribou in Northern several months in advance of my visit. Such careful organization Table 1. Numbers of reindeer, hectares of rangeland, and income from fhe allowed me to see a good cross- reindeer industry in Fennoscandia. section of the reindeer industry Approximate Approximate Approximate during my seven-week stay. Ap- number of area of income from preciation is also extended to Country reindeer rangeland reindeer others who provided me with in hectares1 industry (1963) 2 such warm hospitality through- out my travels. My impressions Norway 40,000 Wild 200,000 Domestic 11,000,000 7,500,OOOkrone of the reindeer industry follow. ($1,140,000 Canadian) The reindeer population in Sweden 250,000 Domestic 16,000,OOO 9,000,OOOkrona Norway, Sweden, and Finland ($1,910,000 Canadian) totals approximately 710,000 ani- Finland 30 Wild mals (Table 1). These are all 220,000 Domestic 13,000,000 7,500,OOOmarks domesticated animals except for ($2,540,000 Canadian) 40,000 wild reindeer in Norway Total 710,030 40,000,000 $5,590,000 (Canadian) and a few wild ones along the Finnish-Russian boundary. IOne hectare = 2.471 acres. These reindeer graze approxi- 2Not including hides, antlers, hunting, and tourist values. 301 302 SCOTTER supported 10 reindeer for four weeks. Grass pastures could also be used to advantage in fatten- ing animals for the autumn slaughter. Such trials tend to support the idea that lichens are not a necessary component of the reindeer diet. The proper utilization of li- chen rangelands is still a ques- tion of prime importance. It is generally agreed that the maxi- mum quantity of forage is pro- duced by the major forage li- chens at the end of the first phase of growth, which lasts ap- FIGURE1. The herders have followed these reindeer from the winter rangelands to the proximately 10 years. The Rus- calving grounds. Note the light colour of some animals. (Photo S. Skjenneberg) sians are recommending a three- year pasture rotation utilizing Canada, are particularly fond of sires is a second method of mak- 30 to 35% of the lichens every those kinds of lichens which ing better use of the winter third year. Near the breeding reach their greatest abundance range. Breeding experiments in station of AskankylZ, Finland, a in the pine and spruce wood- Norway suggest the male-female pasture of 4 square kilometers lands of the boreal forest or ratio could be 1: 15 with young (400 hectares) supported 200 taiga. Although spruce-lichen bulls and 1: 20 to 1: 30 with ma- reindeer for 16 months. Now forests are abundant in Canada, ture bulls without causing any that the animals have been re- they are extremely rare in decrease in the calf crop. moved from the heavily grazed Northern Scandinavia and Fin- Another method by which the pasture, it would be interesting land and are replaced in impor- summer herds could be ex- to study the recovery of this now tance by the pine-lichen forests panded would be to market at an protected area. Several advan- that form the basis for the rein- early age all animals not being tages may accrue from such in- deer industry in many regions., retained for breeding. It appears tensive use. These include less For more than half the year li- pointless to carry steers on the herding, the possibility for easier chens are a favourite item in the range beyond two years, because and better management during diet of reindeer. In Norway the gain per kilogram of food con- calving and slaughtering peri- main rangelands for reindeer are sumed is slight. The most eco- ods, and better utilization of the birch forests and other mountain nomical age for the slaughter of less preferred forage species. pastures. reindeer appears to be at about Such a grazing system might be Artificial feeds are being de- six months of age. Gain in based on an 8 to lo-year rotation. veloped to substitute for the weight per kilogram of forage At the Askankyls breeding lichens on the winter range. consumed decreases after that station two sets of twins oc- Such feeds are necessary to pre- age. curred in 120 births during the vent the serious losses of rein- Improved breeding practices last year. Females of the year deer which have occurred during would also allow for the selec- become, pregnant, much to the severe winters in the past. Feed- tion of animals which are the displeasure of the owners. Such ing trials in Sweden and Norway most efficient in terms of forage happenings may reflect the ex- suggest that the rations devel- use per kilogram of gain. All of cellent rangelands that surround oped are suitable. Such feeding these methods should produce the Askankylg area. Neither of practices could carry more ani- more salable meat without in- these conditions has been re- mals through the winter. Addi- creasing the use of the winter ported for caribou in Northern tional benefits should accrue range. Canada, Conception of calves has such as higher calf weights at In an effort to integrate farm- been reported from Norway, birth and at market age, higher ing practices with the reindeer also. calf survival, and higher milk industry, grazing trials are be- Cladonia alpestris, regarded production by the mother. Rein- ing carried out on grass pastures by many as the most important deer owners have not readily ac- at the Apukka Agricultural Ex- reindeer lichen, was one of the cepted the possible values of perimental Station, a few miles last to be eaten in the newly con- such a feeding program. north of Rovaniemi, Finland. structed holding pens at Askan- Reducing the number of herd One-half hectare of such pasture kylg. Lichens such as Cladonia REINDEER RANCHING 303 FIGURE 2. The use of supplemental feeds for reindeer, while FIGURE 3. Conformation of this mature female reindeer is su- possible and desirable, may not always be economically feasi- perior to that found in many herds. Both sexes are antlered. ble. (Photo S. Persson) (Photo S. Persson) sylvatica, C. rangiferina, and C. Wild Reindeer , in Norway.-Per- ered in the light of the income ob- uncialis were preferred over C. haps the most interesting reindeer tained from licenses, guide fees, purchase of food, and accommoda- alpestris. This observation con- range in Fennoscandia is one near tion. Such expenditures by hunters firms those made in northwest- Kongsvoll used by about 10,000 of Norway’s 40,000 wild reindeer.
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