Minister orders reindeer slaughter

Norway’s agriculture minister wants to slaughter nearly 40,000 more reindeer in the country’s most northerly county of Finnmark as quickly as possible. He claims there’s not enough grass for the animals to graze on, and reducing the size of the herds is the best way to save the industry. Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, who’s recently caught [...]

Nordland train route fatal for wildlife

Animal rights advocates and now the Sami Parliament (Sametinget) in Northern Norway are demanding construction of fences along Norway’s northernmost train line, Nordlandsbanen, to help keep both wildlife and herds of reindeer off the tracks. Hundreds of reindeer, moose and deer are killed every year in bloody collisions between the animals and the trains. Locomotive [...]

Sami Day marked as conflicts rise

The flag of the northern Sami people flew around Norway on Sunday, to mark the annual day celebrated as “Samefolkets dag” by the Sami in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. As festivities took place, though, all is not well, with conflicts continuing to erupt over reindeer grazing. The conflicts have led to violence on the [...]

Reindeer in midst of annual trek

Reindeer herds are leaving their winter pastures on the Finnmark plateau these days and heading for fresh grazing land along the coast of northern Norway. The annual, challenging and traditional migration is underway, with a few modern enhancements. The  new season’s calves are being born on the Finnmark plateau, while the adult males, adolescent animals and females [...]