The Arctic has lost 2.6 million reindeer over the past 20 years:
Since the mid-1990s, the size of reindeer and caribou herds has declined by 56 percent.
That’s a drop from an estimated 4.7 million animals to 2.1 million, a loss of 2.6 million.
“Five herds,” out of 22 monitored “in the Alaska-Canada region, have declined more than 90 percent and show no sign of recovery,” according to the latest Arctic Report Card from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, out Tuesday. “Some herds have all-time record low populations since reliable record keeping began.”
Herds have lost hundreds of thousands of individuals, as measured by aerial photography of herds and counts in areas where caribou give birth. And their declines affect not just the landscape but the people who depend on it. The report explains that the declining number of animals are “a threat to the food security and culture of indigenous people who have depended on the herds.“