All tag results for 'reindeer'

Sorry Santa, but THESE reindeer are TOO CUTE!

Prague's Zoo Praha welcomed two reindeer babes to the fold, one boy and one girl.

The boy was born on Friday the 13th (uh oh!) and the girl was born

Tags: babies, birth, prague, prague zoo, reindeer, zoo, zoo praha

A Utah family was hanging out at their house before Christmas, spending some quality time.

Then they found a surprise Christmas guest…

A full grown buck!!

Check out the above video to see a reindeer hanging out with a family on Christmas.

Also, stick around after that video to see a story of a baby sticking his hand in the president's mouth!

Tags: buck, christmas, crazy, deer, family, funny, reindeer, utah

The population of the Canadian Georgia River reindeer has dropped almost 92% over the last few decades.

There were once over 900,000 reindeer and now there are only about 74,000.

Iron-ore mining, hydro-power flooding and road building are apparently the cause of the dwindling numbers.

Chief of the local natives, the Innu people said:

"All the massive industrial 'development' projects that have been imposed on our land in the last forty years have undoubtedly had a cumulative impact on the size of the caribou herd.

That is why we need real control over our territories and resources, and why we must be involved as equals in decisions that affect our lands and the animals that live there."

So sad that people just living their lives don't even realize the effect they have on the local ecosystem, and how its devastation affects us.

Poor reindeers!

Also, poor Santa! Where will he go to hire more help??

[Image courtesy Subhankar Banerjee/Survival.]

Tags: canada, decline, georgia river, mining, population, reindeer, santa

Wowzerz!

The mammoth's name is Lyuba - and that's why we never let a Russian reindeer herder name anything important.

He Herder was chasing some of Rudolph's buddies when he discovered a perfectly preserved 40,000-year-old mammoth calf poking out of the permafrost.

Natalia Fyodorova, the find's expedition leader, expects this discovery to get a lot of attention, especially because the baby was found in the same region of Arctic Yamalo-Nenetsk as the last mammoth find four years ago. She said:

"If it is true what is said about how it is preserved, this will be another sensation of global significance."

For now, scientist are planning to send Lyuba to Salekhard so they can put her in a giant freezer. Go Science!

Giant woolly mammoths have been extinct since the Earth's last Ice Age 1.8 million to around 11,500 years ago.

[Image via WENN.]

Tags: arctic, extinct, ice age, reindeer, russia, woolly mammoth

Reindeer in Norway are getting castrated.

But don't worry. It's a good thing!

The Arctic region is warming at double the global rate and researchers studying the indigenous Sami peoples in the Arctic say castrated male reindeer can cope with climate change more effectively, as compared to reindeer who still have a pair.

Inneresting.

Due to the Arctics varying temperatures, snow can melt and often refreeze to form thick ice over grazing pastures, but sterilized reindeer grow larger and can break through the ice easier.

Svein Mathiesen, coordinator of the University of the Arctic's Institute of Circumpolar Reindeer Husbandry said:

"To make herds more resilient in the future, we need to re-learn the traditional knowledge of castration."

What's the traditional knowledge of castration?

Sami reindeer herders typically BITE into the animal's testicles with their teeth!

Yuck! We'll pass.

This bitting technique is called "half-castration", which causes the animal to become sterile, but still produce some of the male hormone testosterone that promotes muscle growth.

Norway laws limit castration techniques to surgery with anesthetics, and no biting, so they are experimenting with a vaccine to recreate the effects of half-castration.

Castration aside, the survival of this species is important for these Arctic peeps because they rely on these creatures as their chief export as well as use them for practical uses like pulling large sleds.

[Image via AP Images.]

Tags: arctic, indigenous, norway, reindeer, research, species, surgery, testicles

Ha. So adorbs!

CLICK HERE to see a HIGHlarious gallery of cats wearing reindeer hats!

Tags: cats, gallery, reindeer, silly

As the holidays are approaching, there have been images of happy reindeer pulling sleighs, however that is not quite realistic.

According to the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) reindeer are being rounded up in large numbers, transported and slaughtered in Sweden and Finland.

Click Here to see some footage from this horrible investigation, but be careful, it is quite graphic.

Traditionally reindeer farming had ben done on a much smaller scale. However it has become so much more commercial in these countries and the amount of reindeer meat being sold on the market has increased significantly.

How do U feel about the slaughter of reindeer?

[Image via WENN.]

Tags: animals, footage, holiday, meat, protect, reindeer, sweden