SAN FRANCISCO – Santa Claus
better stock up on reindeer, because he may have trouble scrounging up
replacements in the not-too-distant future, new research suggests.
Reindeer populations in northern
Russia are falling, according to a new study. The new findings dovetail with
other research showing that reindeer
populations are falling in other parts of the Arctic as well.
But Santa's trusty steeds aren't
the only iconic wintry beasts facing worldwide declines. Polar bear populations
could decline by about one-third over the next 30 or 40 years based on sea ice
estimates, another study found.
And hotter, drier conditions in
the western U.S. could mean steep reductions in mountain lion and mule deer
populations.
Worldwide changes
For a while now, scientists have
documented many
changes in the Arctic that suggest trouble is brewing.
"The reindeer population in
the world, and caribou, are declining pretty rapidly," study co-author
Andrey Petrov, a geographer at the University of Northern Iowa, said here today
(Dec. 12) at a news briefing at the annual American Geophysical Union Meeting.
"We don't know why it's happening."
To get a better understanding of
why, Petrov looked at reindeer populations in the Taimyr Peninsula in Far North
Russia. The Taimyr reindeer population, at 600,000 animals, makes up 24 percent
of the global reindeer population. The population peaked in 2000 at more than 1
million creatures, after the dismantling of the Soviet management system led to
dramatic reductions in hunting. However, since then the population
has been falling.
Petrov used satellite views of
the region's vegetation, along with the vegetation and the corresponding
presence of reindeer. The herds of reindeer are clearly visible in land
satellite imagery, which allowed Petrov to map reindeer movement across the
Arctic during the winter, their spring calving season and summer. He found
that, overall, the reindeer have a strong tendency to return to the same places
over and over again.
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