Police in Norway’s most northern county of Finnmark were investigating the shootings of 24 reindeer whose carcasses were found in the mountains at Nordmannset in Porsanger just before the weekend. Investigators say they have no doubt the reindeer were intentionally and illegally killed.
“We have found gunshot wounds on the animals,” Jan-Olav Schjølberg of the Vest-Finnmark Police District told state broadcaster NRK. Local newspaper Finnmark Dagblad reported the reindeer herd was illegally slaughtered “with will and intention.”
The reindeer were owned by Sami herder Anders Somby and his children, and he told NRK’s Sami Radio that whoever shot the reindeer “can’t be normal folks.”
There has been tension over reindeer grazing rights in Finnmark, but Somby said he can’t understand why no one contacted him to discuss any disagreements instead of killing the reindeer, some of which were carrying calves.
newsinenglish.no staff
