Yamal Residents Estimate 60-80,000 Reindeer Starved To Death This Winter
Locals in the far northern Russian region believe between 60,000-80,000 animals might have died of starvation over the past few months. The tragedy follows the formation of a thick layer of ice across major parts of the Yamal tundra.
Reindeer normally manage to dig through the snow to access its favorite food, the lichen, but this year the ground is covered by unbreakable ice. According to herders in the area, the thickness of the ice is at least three centimeters. “The reindeer are not able to get food, and the weak animals quickly die while the remaining parts of the herds lose their strength,” local herder and politician Eiko Serotetto told newspaper Neft.
“If this continues, 300 families in the Seyakha village will be completely without livestock — all animals will die,” Serotetto says. A similar situation was reportedly experienced in 2014.
EDIT
Temperatures in Yamal and surrounding Arctic areas have over the past years seen a dramatic increase. The year 2020 was the warmest on record, and parts of Yamal, Taymyr and other Russian Arctic territories had average temperatures up to 7 °С above normal. A similar difficult situation for reindeer have been experienced also in other parts of the Arctic. In northern Norway, a major rescue operation was initiated in winter 2020 to feed reindeer that risked starvation. In a major air-bridge, up to 250 tons of food was flown into the affected areas by helicopters. As many as 160,000 animals could have starved to death without the rescue. Deep snow on top of a layer of ice was the reason for the situation.
EDIT
https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/climate-crisis/2021/03/russian-tundra-tragedy-80000-reindeer-might-have-starved-death
