You can buy unique and exciting presents at pleasant prices. The only reindeer that could be called tiny in comparison to the other kinds is the Svalbard one. Bears, reindeer, seals, whales, walruses and terns On Svalbard you can watch animals in their natural habitat: the Arctic environment. In addition, Norway is responsible for species management on the Svalbard islands, which includes the management of the wild reindeer population there. Instead they operate alone or in small groups of 2-6 animals. As reindeer go, the animals living on Svalbard might not be Santa’s first choice. It is monitored because it is a key species in the terrestrial ecosystem in Svalbard, is considered to be sensitive to climate change and is hunted in parts of central Spitsbergen. This year, between June 25 and July 5, the researchers discovered the bodies of more than 200 reindeer, who had died over the winter. “This study represents a counter example to the many reindeer population status assessments reporting recent local or regional declines in abundance,” Le Moullec and her co-authors wrote. Trekking on Svalbard gives you the chance to live with these animals, […] There are about 10,000 Svalbard Reindeer in total. Svalbard is a duty-free zone, which means that tax-free prices apply for everything you buy here. Polar bears are probably the animal that most people connect with Svalbard, but there are many other animals that call Svalbard home, including walrus, harp seals, ring seals, bearded seals, beluga, bowhead whales, narwhals, Svalbard grouse, polar fox and Svalbard reindeer. Since they are quite tame, one can approach very close to a Svalbard reindeer. To find out how many Svalbard reindeer live across the archipelago today, Mathilde Le Moullec, who completed her Ph.D. from the Norwegian University of … There are no predators on Svalbard that kill reindeer, but foxes will eat animals that have died of starvation. The Svalbard reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus) is a subspecies of the reindeer found on the Svalbard archipelago of Norway. The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), also known as the caribou in North America, is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, sub-Arctic, tundra, boreal, and This period of protection resulted in recovery of the reindeer and the reindeer spread and re-colonized their former ranges. Animals are perfectly at home among the ice and snow of the archipelago. But its protection in 1925, including a ban on hunting, has helped the reindeer population bounce back, previous estimates suggest. But because they were nearly exterminated from Svalbard around 1900 — and were then protected in 1925 — the animals provide unique insights into how conservation can help species thrive. However, data from many parts of the archipelago and long-term monitoring data from a few specific locations, suggest an increase in the number of Svalbard reindeer during recent decades. To find out how many Svalbard reindeer live across the archipelago today, Mathilde Le Moullec, who completed her Ph.D. from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology this year, and her colleagues systematically surveyed more than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) of Svalbard … In Svalbard the reindeer do not move in herds, as do the wild reindeer on the mainland. The death toll is much higher than those previously recorded. Depleted by hunting over more than six decades, the Svalbard reindeer has been recovering strongly under Norway’s conservation measures, and there may now be as many as 10,000 of them on the islands, which together have a land area roughly the size of West Virginia. Svalbard reindeer have stubby legs and very shaggy hair. They’re a smaller subspecies of their common mainland relatives, and to save energy they basically never run. The population size of Svalbard reindeer is estimated to be around 10,000 animals, thereof about 4,000 in Nordenskiöld Land, but varies from year to year. In Svalbard the reindeer do not move in herds, as do the wild reindeer on the mainland. As reindeer go, the animals living on the Norwegian arctic archipelago of Svalbard might not be Santa’s first choice. Mathilde Le Moullec and her colleagues have walked more than 2000 kilometres over four field seasons in the high-Arctic Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, all in a quest to count reindeer. The working group for the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) also prioritizes reindeer monitoring. She can … Management of the Svalbard reindeer, which is only found in Svalbard, is an all-Norwegian responsibility. Although both genders of the subspecies are small, the females are significantly smaller than the males. The shops in Svalbard have everything from outdoors clothing and equipment to reindeer skins. Over 200 Svalbard reindeer have been found dead on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. For the past 40 years, researchers at the Norwegian Polar Institute have been tracking a group of reindeer in the Svalbard archipelago.