I get that part, but am I to assume that it is a tame one. I seem to remember a story about bringing some Reindeer to Alaska, in a part with no caribou, and the wild caribou coming by and the reindeer running off with them. miles
Been out of the loop all week at camp... didn’t see this.
Reindeer are still herded in some parts. Their value is different than what they originally were brought here for. These days it’s largely the antler trade for monetary purposes, with meat generation for local people. They do an annual round-up of the scattered herds, tag new calves, cut antlers, castrate some. They are, like dogs, genetically identical to caribou and mix just as collies and labs might. Many of the original ‘deer were easily known by various coloration. That’s less now. So too the body structures which once favored a less ranging shorter legged, bigger bodied deer.
Typically the animals belong to an individual or collective and they are taken and used by their owners. The local herds here have expanded so much that they are becoming difficult to manage, overgraze their range, and tend to wander off and mix with the caribou. Consequently the herders have approved some thinning and allow households to remove 1-2 per year as they need meat. They prefer a male harvest right now since the calves are young. My son took an animal from a calf-less herd, presumably all males (or in this case cisgendered 🤪 ). In any case he/she/it 😎 was modernly adorned with an appropriate body piercing (ear tag). 😇
