Reindeer In Norway Research Articles

Wild reindeer in Norway – population ecology, management and harvest

Wild reindeer in Norway – population ecology, management and harvest

Characterisation of parapoxviruses isolated from Norwegian semi-domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus).

BackgroundTwo outbreaks of the disease contagious ecthyma were reported in 1999 and 2000 in Norwegian semi-domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus). Contagious ecthyma is an epidermal disease of sheep and goats worldwide, which is caused by the zoonotic parapoxvirus orf virus. Characterisation of clinical samples from the two outbreaks in semi-domesticated reindeer in Norway by electron microscopy and PCR (B2L) revealed typical parapoxvirus particles and partial gene sequences corresponding to parapoxvirus, respectively. If contagious ecthyma in reindeer is caused by orf virus, the virus may be transferred from sheep and goats, via people, equipment and common use of pastures and corrals, to reindeer. Another possibility is that contagious ecthyma in reindeer is caused by a hitherto unclassified member of the parapoxvirus genus that circulates among reindeer herds and remains endemic in Norway.ResultsGenomic comparisons of one standard orf strain (orf NZ2) and the reindeer isolates, employing restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis, demonstrated high similarity between the reindeer viruses and known orf virus strains. Partial DNA sequences of two different viral genes were determined for the different isolates and compared with corresponding parapoxvirus genebank sequences. The comparison/alignment and construction of phylogenetic trees also point to an affiliation of the reindeer viruses to the species orf virus.ConclusionThe results of this work imply that the parapoxvirus causing contagious ecthyma in Norwegian semi-domesticated reindeer belongs to the species orf virus and that the orf virus crosses the host species barrier from sheep and goat to semi-domesticated reindeer.

90Sr, 210Po and 210Pb in lichen and reindeer in Norway

Concentrations of 90Sr, 210Po and 210Pb in lichen and reindeer were studied in central (Østre Namdal) and southern Norway (Vågå) during 2000–2003. The study focussed on potential differences in concentrations of these nuclides in reindeer of different ages. Concentrations of 90Sr in bones of ∼10 year old adult females were about 40% higher than those in calves' antlers ( 90Sr concentrations in antlers and bones of calves are similar), while the available data from Vågå suggest that 90Sr concentrations in reindeer calves decreased with an effective ecological half-time of 9.03 ± 0.06 years during 1988–2002. Furthermore, 90Sr concentrations were 50–80% higher in bone of reindeer of a similar age from Vågå compared to those from Østre Namdal. Concentrations of 210Po and 210Pb in muscle and liver tissues were comparable to those reported for reindeer in other Nordic areas, with no significant difference in 210Po and 210Pb concentrations between adults and calves or between reindeer from the two different study areas.

Bacteria of pathogenic importance in faeces from cadavers of free-ranging or corralled semi-domesticated reindeer in northern Norway.

There is little information on bacteria that have the potential to cause disease in reindeer husbandry. In this project, faecal samples from 35 free-ranging or corralled reindeer, adults and calves, that died in the winter of 2000 in northern Norway, were examined for the occurrence of Campylobacter spp., Clostridium perfringens, Listeria spp., Salmonella spp. and Yersinia spp. to evaluate the role of these microrganisms in loss and mortality in reindeer husbandry. In addition, 31 of these samples were examined for the occurrence of bacteria producing shigatoxin-1 and 2. C. perfringens was isolated in 20 (57.1%) of the faecal samples. In the free-ranging reindeer, 44% were positive carriers of C. perfringens and 90% of the corralled ones were positive for C. perfringens. In addition, the gene encoding for shigatoxin-1 was detected in one of the samples derived from a corralled reindeer. The other bacteria investigated were not found. Shigatoxin-1-producing bacteria were isolated for the first time from reindeer in Norway. However, no correlation between C. perfringens or shigatoxin-1-producing bacteria and mortality in the reindeer could be established.

Toxin types of Clostridium perfringens isolated from free-ranging, semidomesticated reindeer in Norway

Samples of faeces were taken from 166 healthy domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) from three flocks in different reindeer husbandry districts in northern Norway and examined bacteriologically for the presence...

Calving time and foetus growth among wild reindeer in Norway

Mean calving dates among 7 wild reindeer (Rangifer t. tarandus) herds in southern Norway varied between the 6th and the 27th of May. Ln transformed foetus weights relate linearly to ln age in days. Regression analyzes based upon 225 days pregnancy predicts birth wet weights between 4600 and 7500 g in the different areas and years. At 130 days, foetus weights varied between 547 and 746 g (mean=681, standard deviation s=63) in all areas and years, indicating that foetus growth up to this size is independent of mothers body weight or condition. During the remaining 95 days of pregnancy, very poor body condition, reflected in dressed weights, resulted in slower foetus growth and smaller regression estimated birth weights. The foetus weight variation recorded at similar dates within areas and sampling years indicates a dispersed breeding time mostly within two ovulations. A small sample of foetuses from pregnant yearlings and calves indicate that these cohorts conceive later than 2 yr + females. Assuming similar foetus growth pattern among all female age cohorts within areas, yearlings conceive around 1 week later and calves (in Ottadalen) more than 3 weeks later than 2 + yr olds.

A serological survey for brucellosis in reindeer in Finnmark county, northern Norway

<p>During September-December, 1990 to 1994, serum samples from a total of 5792 semi-domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandm tarandm) from Finnmark county, northern Norway, were screened for brucellosis on an indirect ELISA. There were no serologically positive animals. Twenty six of the animals had levels of antibodies detectable on the ELISA and were classed as suspicious, but the ELISA optical density readings were low compared to the readings for reindeer that were both culture positive and seropositive for Brucella suis biovar 4. When assayed on the standard tube agglutination test (STAT), all the 26 animals were seronegative. When absorbed with cells of Yersinia enterocolitica 0-9, the antibody detectable on the ELISA could be removed to a great extent from most of the sera, indicating previous or ongoing exposure to bacteria serologically cross-reacting with Brucella in these animals. We concluded that brucellosis was not present among reindeer in Finnmark during this study. This is supported by the absence of any reports of brucellosis among reindeer in Norway.</p>

Direction of escape in reindeer

We tested the hypothesis that reindeer prefer to run uphill and upwind when escaping from man. Groups of wild and feral reindeer in Norway, Svalbard and on Wrangel Island were approached and their behaviour and direction of escape were recorded. Two stages of interaction with man were studied: first flight and final withdrawal. First flights proved to be away from man, upwind and uphill. Most final withdrawals were in the direction reindeer were moving when first observed.

Chromosome aberrations in Norwegian reindeer following the chernobyl accident

Chromosome analyses were carried out on peripheral blood lymphocytes of semi-domestic reindeer in Norway which had been exposed to varying amounts of radiocesium emanating from the Chernobyl accident. The sampling was done in the period 1987–1990. The material included 192 reindeer, originating from four herds in central Norway, an area considerably affected by fallout from the Chernobyl accident, and from three herds in northern Norway which was unaffected by fallout from the accident. Significant heterogeneity in the distribution of chromosome aberrations between herds was observed. The pattern of chromosome aberration frequencies between herds was not related to the variation in radiocesium exposure from the Chernobyl accident. Other factors than the Chernobyl accident appear therefore to be of importance for the distribution of aberration frequencies found among present herds. Within the most contaminated area the reindeer born in 1986 showed significantly more chromosome aberrations than those born both before and after 1986. This could suggest that the Chernobyl accident fallout created an effect particularly among calves, during the immediate post-accident period in the most exposed arcas.

Seasonal variation of cesium 134 and cesium 137 in semidomestic reindeer in Norway after the Chernobyl accident

The Chernobyl accident had a great impact on the semidomestic reindeer husbandry in central Norway. Seasonal differences in habitat and diet resulted in large variations in observed radiocesium concentrations in reindeer after the Chernobyl accident. In three areas with high values of cesium-134 and cesium-137 in lichens, the main feed for reindeer in winter, reindeer were sampled every second month to monitor the seasonal variation and the decrease rate of the radioactivity. The results are based on measurements of cesium-134 and cesium-137 content in meat and blood and by whole-body monitoring of live animals. In 1987 the increase of radiocesium content in reindeer in Vågå were 4x from August to January. The mean reductions in radiocesium content from the winter 1986/87 to the winter 1987/88 were 32%, 50% and 43% in the areas of Vågå, Østre-Namdal and Lom respectively.

Management of wild reindeer in Norway

Wild reindeer in Norway are found in 26 separate management areas. Predators are virtually absent from all areas and hunting is the most important factor determining population development through alterations of herd size and structure. Average population density (animals/km2) after hunt was 1.96 in Hardangervidda, 1.18 in North Rondane and between 0.78 and 0.87 in Rondane South, Snøhetta, North Ottadalen and Forelhogna. Body size and female pregnancy rates followed a reverse trend. Average net increase of the herds varied from 42.2±10.0% in Forelhogna to 18.8±8.0% in Rondane North. In areas with animals in prime physical condition a high versus a low average harvest rate of calves resulted in a similar number of animals harvested, but a lower total yield of meat and revenue from hunting licences. At a winter population density of 0.8 - 2.0 animals/km2 annual harvest (per km2) of wild reindeer amounts to 0.23 - 0.51 animals, 9 - 18 kg meat and 286 - 850 NKr from sale of hunting licences. There was a significant relationship between body size expressed as carcass weights or mandible length and harvest success.

An Energy Model for Adult Female Caribou of the Denali Herd, Alaska

Estimates of the energy costs of resting, activity, and productive processes from the literature were applied to caribou activity budgets and movements documented during 1978-80 to estimate seasonal and annual energy requirements of adult female caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) in Denali National Park and Preserve. Energy requirements were 45% lower in winter than summer, primarily because of a 21% reduction in resting metabolic rate and benefits of fat catabolism in winter, and high summer costs of lactation, fat deposition, and activity. Estimated energy requirements totaled 38.2 MJ . day-' during the insect season, 36.7 during summer migration, 34.2 during fall migration, 31.9 during prerut and rut, 29.3 during calving and postcalving, 23.7 during early and late winter migrations, 21.6 during early winter, 20.9 during late winter, and 20.5 during midwinter. Annual energy requirements, including costs of pregnancy (368.6 MJ) and lactation (560.3), totaled 9,870 MJ, excluding costs of cratering through snow and apparently minor costs of physiological stress. Compared to studies of food energy requirements of penned caribou, the model gives accurate predictions of total metabolizable energy requirements when allowances are made for the relative inactivity of penned animals. Modeling the energy requirements of an ungulate population is a prerequisite to estimating nutritional carrying capacities (Moen 1973, Robbins 1973, Wallmo et al. 1977, Mautz 1978). Measurements of the energy requirements of Rangifer have received emphasis in several studies (Makarova and Segal 1958, Hammel et al. 1961, Segal 1962, McEwan 1970, Luick et al. 1974, Young and McEwan 1975, White and Yousef 1978), but these measurements have not previously been used to model seasonal energy requirements of a caribou/ reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) population. Author is game research biologist, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 1300 College Road, Fairbanks, Alaska 99701. At the time of the research, author was graduate student, Alaska Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Financial and logistical support was provided by the U.S. National Park Service (contract CX-9000-7-E080). Manuscript accepted May 28, 1985. Thomson (1977) attempted to model the year-round energy expenditure of wild reindeer in Norway using estimates of energy expenditure from the literature. However, Thomson's applications of energy costs differed in several ways from those presented here, making comparisons difficult. The most significant deviations included Thomson's exclusion of estimates for the calorigenic effect of food and his extremely high estimate for the energy cost of trotting. Gaare et al. (1975) also estimated seasonal energy requirements of wild reindeer in Norway. However, their estimates are about 45% of those reported here. Since they did not present energy-cost estimates of the various activities, it is impossible to account for the difference. White et al. (1975) estimated the summer energy requirements for caribou activity as simply 2 X basal metabolic rate (BMR). However, they used a winter-BMR value, so their summer energy estimates are substantially lower than presented here. I studied the Denali (formerly McKinley) caribou herd in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska during 1978-80. A model of the nutritional ecology of the herd was developed to assess the energetic/ nutritional status of this extremely reduced population (Boertje 1981). This paper demonstrates the applicability of measurements of energy costs by modeling metabolizable energy requirements of adult female caribou in the Denali herd.

Reproduction in wild reindeer in Norway

Pregnancy status and dressed weights were obtained from female reindeer killed during autumn and winter in five areas in southern Norway. Body weight, mandible length, and lactation status were obtained from females killed during the hunting season in the same areas. Pregnancy rates (P) were predictable from the female dressed weight at rut (W), from the equation P = 1–e[−0.169(W–21)]. In areas where calves become pregnant, yearlings may have a lower pregnancy rate than expected from their weights.

Echinococcosis in Slaughtered Reindeer (Rangifer Tarandus) in the Northern Part of Troms and Western Part of Finnmark Counties, During the Winter 1975/76

Echinococcosis in reindeer in Norway has been known for a long time. Meat inspection of 3712 reindeer in the winter 1975/76 revealed echinococci in 56 lungs (1.5 %). Forty-eight of the lungs were examined at The State Veterinary Laboratory for Northern Norway. Of these, 40 (∞ 83 %) contained well-developed cysts, while 8 (∞17%) contained only collapsed cysts. Five lungs (∞ 10 %) contained both well-developed and collapsed cysts.

Growth in Domestic and Wild Reindeer in Norway

Growth is compared between two wild reindeer ( vRangifer tarsndus ) populations and also be- tween these two populations and the now-dispersed Trio domestic herd from which the two aFild popula- tions were derived. The two wild populations are located in North Ottadalen a near-virgin area, and South Ottadalen an area that was partially heavily grazed. Both areas vere utilized by the Trio herd. Intensive herding of the Trio animals is deemed responsible for their 23 to 43 percent losver dressed weights when compared with the South Ottadalen herd. The longer diastema lengths of the North Otta- dalen population,, when compared with both the South Ottadalen and the Trio populations, reflect the dif- ference in range quality between the North and South Ottadalen areas. GROWTH IN DOMESTIC AND WILD REINDEER IN NORWAY EIGIL REIMERS, The Norwegian Stote Game Reseorch Institute, Vollebekk Abstract: Growth is compared between two wild reindeer ( vRangifer tarsndus ) populations and also be- tween these two populations and the now-dispersed Trio domestic herd from which the two aFild popula- tions were derived. The two wild populations are located in North Ottadalen a near-virgin area, and South Ottadalen an area that was partially heavily grazed. Both areas vere utilized by the Trio herd. Intensive herding of the Trio animals is deemed responsible for their 23 to 43 percent losver dressed weights when compared with the South Ottadalen herd. The longer diastema lengths of the North Otta- dalen population,, when compared with both the South Ottadalen and the Trio populations, reflect the dif-

Reaction of Reindeer to Obstructions and Disturbances

In Scandinavia, highways and railroads have not generally created obstructions to the movement of domesticated reindeer, although thousands of animals are killed each year in accidents. Some disruption in the movements of wild reindeer in Norway has been associated with the construction of a railroad and highway through an alpine plateau south of Trondheim. Hydroelectric projects have had the greatest detrimental effects on reindeer by flooding rangelands and obstructing migration routes. Special problems are created by the fluctuating water levels in reservoirs and rivers; efforts to mitigate the effects of these fluctuations have been only partially successful. Reindeer have strong traditions for migrating along specific routes, and realignment of these routes is extremely difficult. Conflicts of interest exist between reindeer herders and foresters. During their winter feeding, the deer damage young trees. The cutting of forests usually results in a deterioration of the area as a rangeland for reindeer. Herbicides used in forestry have been implicated in the death of some reindeer in Sweden, and research is now under way to determine the effects of herbicides on reindeer. The increased use of fences in reindeer husbandry in Scandinavia has emphasized the fact that reindeer behavior and characteristics of the terrain must be considered if fences are to be successful in directing or controlling the movements of reindeer. Herders now use snowmobiles instead of reindeer for transportation and herding, but the machines disturb the reindeer and must be used with discretion. Recent evidence indicates that large amounts of industrial waste in the atmosphere are carried from the British Isles and central Europe to Scandinavia, where they fall out in rain and snow. This has raised concern about the influence of the wastes on lichens, the main winter food supply of reindeer. Studies are now under way in Finland, Sweden, and Norway, through the International Biological Program, to determine the growth rates of the several lichen species that are important to reindeer.

The development of reindeer husbandry in Canada

The first reindeer were introduced into Canada for humanitarian rather than commercial reasons. Encouraged by the success achieved in Alaska, where 1280 reindeer imported by Dr Sheldon Jackson from Siberia between 1892 and 1902 had increased in a few years to several times that number, the missionary physician of Labrador, Wilfred Grenfell, hoped to develop a reindeer meat-and-dairy industry in his region, where tuberculosis was common and infant mortality high. In 1908, with financial support from the Boston Transcript and the Canadian Department of Agriculture, he bought 300 reindeer in Norway and brought them to St Anthony, Newfoundland. Under the supervision of four Lapp herders, the animals quickly adjusted to their new environment