WILD REINDEER OF THE ARCTIC ISLANDS: DISPERSAL, NUMBERS, POPULATION STATUS

The article gives an overview of the current dispersion of wild reindeer populations on the archipelagos and islands of the circumpolar Arctic, and an assessment of their numbers and population status in the context of current climate change. Based on the literature data, the authors examine the conditions for the present development of reindeer populations in Spitsbergen, Greenland, Iceland, the Canadian Archipelago, and the islands of the Russian Arctic. When analyzing population data the authors use their own materials— field studies and population estimates. For the first time, they attempt to make a current assessment of the number and status of Arctic island reindeer populations in comparison with the presence of trophic competition (musk ox) and predators. Some discrepancies with the data of foreign authors and the results of the International Program “Monitoring of Reindeer and Caribou in circumpolar countries” (CARMA) arise due to their lesser awareness of the situation in the Russian Arctic. Despite the preservation of the species’ numbers as a whole, it is the state of its island populations that causes concern and requires additional protection measures.

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