Image information
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Title: Reindeer on the move
Byline/Credit: Annette Löf/Azote
Image reference: alb_00089
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| Title: | Reindeer on the move | | Caption: | At a reindeer separation with Vilhelmina north reindeer herding district.
There are approximately 240-300 000 reindeers in Sweden. Wild reindeer do not exist, all reindeer are the private property of individuals or reindeer herding districts. Only those who are members of a reindeer herding district (in Swedish sameby) are entitled to herd reindeer. Only the Sami, the indigenous people of Sweden can become members in a sameby. The reindeer husbandry area covers approximately 30-40% of the Swedish land surface.
Reindeer separation is one of the big events during the year. Normally it occurs during fall or early winter. Leading up to the separation, reindeer herds are gathered and directed towards a separation corral. To begin with all the reindeer owners gather in the middle of the big herd to seek out any reindeer who are not yet marked. If they find any the unmarked reindeer are marked by having their ears cut according to the reindeer owners particular marks. The cuts on both ears collectively make up the mark. Each mark is registered through the Sami parliament and no one can have more than one mark at a time. Marks are often inherited within the family and are personally designed.
When separation begins smaller parts of the herd are brought towards a smaller round corral - a so called "sifter" or "strainer". From the sifter there are many exits so that the herders can separate which animals are going to be slaughtered and which are to be brought to the different winter grazing areas. Each reindeer is counted and registrered according to its owner and if it's a calf, female or male reindeer.
During separation the reindeer are vaccinated against parasites, particularly "korm" - a fly which puts its eggs under the fur which grows into larvaes during winter.
To avoid counting or vaccinating any reindeer twice, the reindeer are sprayed with color before they leave the corral. Some reindeer are also given reflex collars to increase traffic safety.
Since many of the traditional routes to winter grazing areas cannot be used any longer - largely due to roads, other infrastructure or unsafe ices as a result of large-scale hydropower - many reindeer herding districts transport their reindeer via trucks. Transports are expensive, but viable alternatives are missing. The largest reindeer horns need to be sawed off before the reindeer get into the truck so that other reindeer are not injured during the transport. | | Location: | Dikanäs, Vilhelmina municipality, Västerbotten county, Sweden, Europe | | Keywords: | reindeer, herding, husbandry, Saami, indigenous, traditional, sorting, pen, corral, domesticated, native, custom, immermorial, grazing, pasture, reindeer herding district, village, life style, right, land, conflict, grazing area, grain boundary, outdoors, mountain, nomad, move, foot, hoof, leg, movement, Animalia, Chordata, Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Cervidae, Capreolinae, Rangifer, R. tarandus, Rangifer tarandus | | Photographer: | Annette Löf | | Byline/Credit: | Annette Löf/Azote | | Image reference: | alb_00089 |
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