Death of Rudolph: Reindeers could be extinct within decades

Reindeers in the Arctic are shrinking in size due to the effects of climate change on their pasture, hindering their survival and threatening to leave them extinct within decades.

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It appears that the tolls of climate change can even go as far as changing Christmas. Parents are already having a tough enough time trying to convince their children that an overweight old man in a red suit breaks into their house to leave presents under the Christmas tree, but it looks like even the beloved animals responsible for taking Father Christmas from the North Pole to everybody’s living room can also end up disappearing as a result of climate change.

Scientists have found that Reindeers in the Svalbard archipelago in Norway are decreasing in size due to climate change, as an increase in winter rain and subsequent ice thaw has made it more difficult for these animals to find food.

Scientists fear that, at this rate, there is a possibility that reindeers in the Arctic may become extinct if there is an increase of ice on the ground. Over the past 16 years, the average weight of an adult deer in the region has fallen by 12% to 48kg. The lack of food, a result of changing climate and of an initial drastic increase in reindeer population and competition for food, has resulted in reindeers getting hungrier and weaker. With this, reindeer calves are being born much lighter.

Shrinking herds in Canada too

Norway is not the only country to be witnessing changes in their reindeer population. In George River, Canada, one of the largest herds in the world shrunk from a recorded 850,000 to fewer than 30,000 at the beginning of this decade. Several factors were attributed to this decline in reindeer, or caribou in North America, such as mining and over hunting. The caribou is central to the culture of many indigenous people in the sub-Arctic region. The government has been quick to blame over hunting for this decrease, despite the fact that the indigenous communities have been co-existing with the caribou for thousands of years and probably know best how to preserve their land.

Continued mining and mining exploration on the other hand, has been changing the landscape and natural habitat of the caribou. Roads and helicopter ports have been built through the heart of calving grounds.

Regardless of the motives, the change in the reindeer population has been alarming and we are at risk of losing an animal that is not only important for numerous communities, but also a symbol for a Christmas season that will have to change its jingle bells for warning bells.