When you first arrive in the Arctic islands of Svalbard, people will always mistake the reindeer that eats on the grass for a calf, and this wild animal called the Svalbard reindeer is obviously different from the traditional domesticated reindeer in Northern Europe and Russia, they look stronger and look thicker.
In Svalbard, the protagonist is a polar bear, supporting roles are seals, sea lions and other animals, tourists travel thousands of miles to the cold Arctic belt, is to witness these several arctic representative animals, and as the oldest wild animal in Svalbard, the presence of reindeer is not strong, but as long as you stay on them a little, you will be powdered by the reindeer's furry body and the look of the state.
It is speculated that there are about 22,000 reindeer in Svalbard, but the actual number is not possible to calculate, but it is certain that the number of reindeer on the island is currently at least twice as much as the number of wild hunting in the last century, but it is still listed by the United Nations as one of the world's endangered animals.
Svalbard reindeer, one of the oldest species in the Arctic, have survived for at least 5,000 years on this icy wilderness land, relying on the rare mossy green cover for food. At the end of the 18th century, hunters landed on Svalbard, the peaceful life of reindeer was broken, and they began to hunt with animals such as sea lions and seals on the island.
Reindeer is a treasure, antlers, deer skins, venison, deer blood, deer bones are very high economic value materials, can be used in various industries. The value of a reindeer is comparable to that of a few cows, and as long as you can raise hundreds of them for a few houses, it is not a problem. In northern Europe, ranchers who rely on the domestication of reindeer are all invisible rich.
Wild reindeer are more valuable, and reindeer that grow uniquely in the Arctic are the "gold" of wild reindeer, made of Svalbard reindeer, and are highly respected by noble ladies. So spurred on by high profits, they were hunted by hunters in the last century.
Perhaps because there are not many predators, reindeer are extremely focused when grazing, coupled with short legs and slow movements, the hunter can easily trap them. Between 1860 and 1925, the island's reindeer population declined rapidly in just a few decades, and was at one point on the verge of extinction. It was not until scientists from all over the world called for them that they were protected and slowly restored after nearly a hundred years of re-breeding.
Every year in the summer and autumn seasons, reindeer should seize the time to eat on the grass, they should eat themselves fat as much as possible, hoarding fat in the body. Once the Arctic region enters the cold winter, the island is completely frozen and the reindeer will no longer have a food source. Their only chance to survive is to eat enough to survive the cold spring and winter seasons in the relatively warm season.
However, due to global warming, precipitation in the Arctic region has increased year by year, and once the raindrops fall on the ground, the polar temperatures will soon form ice. At this time, the reindeer that came out to feed could not pry open the ice to obtain enough mossy vegetation. Last year scientists found that the reindeer on the island were significantly thinner, and according to statistics, more than 200 reindeer were starved to death last year.
The number of reindeer in Svalbard is now considerable, but in the face of the increasingly harsh climate environment of the world, the survival crisis of reindeer has come again. The problem faced by reindeer is not the existential crisis faced by the entire Antarctic and Arctic creatures, and human beings are the main culprits of their crisis.
Note: The image is exclusively granted to the photographer Christopher Michel (American photojournalist and explorer) to donkey walk, and its use is prohibited without his permission