The reason may be climate change, which makes the early winters warmer, Luke estimates.
27.12. 15:04
Thousands of reindeer are missing in Lapland, told the British Broadcasting Corporation the BBC at Christmas. The news was also widely quoted in Finland.
BBC news reported that thousands of reindeer in Sweden and Finland have moved south from their usual pastures, as early ice cover has made it impossible to dig up food, or lichen.
They have thus smelled where it is warmer and headed south for a hundred or even a couple of hundred miles.
One explanation for the situation is climate change, which has made early winters warmer than usual. It is feared that the development will continue and make reindeer husbandry even more difficult.
Specialist researcher Jouko Kumpula The Natural Resources Center says the situation is not entirely new. Especially two years ago, in the winter of 2019–2020, the situation was difficult. That winter is also remembered for the very thick layers of snow in Lapland.
Autumn and early winter rains and first snow froze the ground into a hard layer. The ice layer and the ever-growing layer of snow made it difficult for the reindeer to dig up the lichen.
According to Kumpula, in addition to warming, winters also seem to be more unstable with snow and rain and frost in between. Then the wet snow freezes and hardens on the pastures making it difficult or even impossible to dig the reindeer.
About the situation lichens, which are avoided by reindeer, also developed in the lichens. So they set out for a wider area in search of food.
“The warm, frost-free ground still exudes heat under the snow, which can cause mold to form on the lichens, sparrows and hay that the reindeer mainly digs,” he says.
According to Kumpula, the weather is becoming increasingly difficult to predict due to climate change.
“Two winters ago, they wandered across the borders of the herdsmen and were sought from a hundred and two hundred miles away. The quality of the food deteriorated and their condition deteriorated already in the early winter, ”says Kumpula.
“This winter, a message has come from the field that a similar winter may be coming.”
BBC’s interviewed by a Swedish reindeer herder Tomas Seva said he left to track down his reindeer even by helicopter, which is unusual and expensive. Seva said that in her area, about 8,000 reindeer had set out to roam for food.
“It can be seen that such warm early winters are becoming more common now and that is a critical issue,” Kumpula says.
The weather and snow conditions in the winter of 2019–2020 were so exceptional that additional feeding of reindeer had to start exceptionally early.
In mid-winter, reindeer also began to die by the thousands and became more ill than usual. In addition, the spring was cold and the snow cover melted almost a month late.
At that time, the herds estimated that feeding and care costs almost doubled, and at the same time the amount of reindeer meat sold for sale decreased and the income level of reindeer herders collapsed. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has now compensated reindeer herders for this damage.
.
#Environment #BBC #thousands #reindeer #disappeared #Lapland #explanation #winter #years
