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Scotland's Reindeer
It’s getting close to Christmas and we had some special visitors to our town recently to turn the Christmas lights on. Reindeer! Reindeer are of course very significant this time of year as it’s Reindeer who famously pull Santa’s sleigh.
Did you know that Scotland has its own herd of reindeer, in fact they are the Uk’s only free-ranging herd of reindeer living mainly in the Cairngorm mountains, close to the town of Aviemore. I’d like to tell you a bit about them today.
Reindeer were actually native to the UK until around the 13th century but they unfortunately died out, becoming extinct for a number of reasons but probably due to climate change or hunting. They were eventually reintroduced in 1952 thanks to a Swedish man, Mikel Utsi. Mikel Utsi was born in Karesuando, northern Sweden, into a reindeer-owning Sàmi family and following his marriage and move to the UK, he was actually on his honeymoon in the Cairngorm mountains when he realised how similar the landscape and climate was to his homeland and decided to try to reintroduce Reindeer here.
The Cairngorm mountain range has sub arctic conditions, the only part of the UK to do so and is often subjected to blizzards, snow and ice. The perfect environment for hardy reindeer.
The first 7 reindeer were brought over from Sweden by ship and quarantined at Edinburgh Zoo before being released in the Cairngorm mountains. Over the years the herd has grown substantially and there are now 150 Reindeer, most freely roaming the Cairngorm mountain range. They aren’t wild, every Reindeer has been named and a close eye is kept on them but they are mostly free to go where they want. If you go to the town of Aviemore you can visit the Reindeer Centre and take an organised hill trip up to the mountains to feed the reindeer who may even eat out of your hands! It’s a wonderful experience to see these animals up close in their own environment.
Some interesting facts about reindeer, they have 2 layers of fur to keep them warm and very wide hooves which are a bit like snow shoes and stop them from sinking into the snow. Both male and female reindeers can grow antlers and they can easily find food under the snow by using their hooves. They mostly eat grasses, moss shrubs and trees. In winter it’s mostly lichen.
Some of the reindeer have been trained to pull sleighs and they occasionally travel around the country in the run up to Christmas. As well as visiting the reindeer in their natural habitat you can also adopt one. For a small fee you can help support the work of the Reindeer Centre, run mostly by volunteers and receive regular updates on how your reindeer and the herd are doing. There are more than a 1000 supporters from all over the world. I hope you get a chance to visit these magnificent creatures one day. Thanks for listening.
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By JenniIt’s getting close to Christmas and we had some special visitors to our town recently to turn the Christmas lights on. Reindeer! Reindeer are of course very significant this time of year as it’s Reindeer who famously pull Santa’s sleigh.
Did you know that Scotland has its own herd of reindeer, in fact they are the Uk’s only free-ranging herd of reindeer living mainly in the Cairngorm mountains, close to the town of Aviemore. I’d like to tell you a bit about them today.
Reindeer were actually native to the UK until around the 13th century but they unfortunately died out, becoming extinct for a number of reasons but probably due to climate change or hunting. They were eventually reintroduced in 1952 thanks to a Swedish man, Mikel Utsi. Mikel Utsi was born in Karesuando, northern Sweden, into a reindeer-owning Sàmi family and following his marriage and move to the UK, he was actually on his honeymoon in the Cairngorm mountains when he realised how similar the landscape and climate was to his homeland and decided to try to reintroduce Reindeer here.
The Cairngorm mountain range has sub arctic conditions, the only part of the UK to do so and is often subjected to blizzards, snow and ice. The perfect environment for hardy reindeer.
The first 7 reindeer were brought over from Sweden by ship and quarantined at Edinburgh Zoo before being released in the Cairngorm mountains. Over the years the herd has grown substantially and there are now 150 Reindeer, most freely roaming the Cairngorm mountain range. They aren’t wild, every Reindeer has been named and a close eye is kept on them but they are mostly free to go where they want. If you go to the town of Aviemore you can visit the Reindeer Centre and take an organised hill trip up to the mountains to feed the reindeer who may even eat out of your hands! It’s a wonderful experience to see these animals up close in their own environment.
Some interesting facts about reindeer, they have 2 layers of fur to keep them warm and very wide hooves which are a bit like snow shoes and stop them from sinking into the snow. Both male and female reindeers can grow antlers and they can easily find food under the snow by using their hooves. They mostly eat grasses, moss shrubs and trees. In winter it’s mostly lichen.
Some of the reindeer have been trained to pull sleighs and they occasionally travel around the country in the run up to Christmas. As well as visiting the reindeer in their natural habitat you can also adopt one. For a small fee you can help support the work of the Reindeer Centre, run mostly by volunteers and receive regular updates on how your reindeer and the herd are doing. There are more than a 1000 supporters from all over the world. I hope you get a chance to visit these magnificent creatures one day. Thanks for listening.