Monday, August 19, 2013

The Reindeer Police

Well, I bet you click through to this one.

I had no idea that such a police force existed.

2 comments:

Knucklehead said...

I was unaware of this but it doesn't surprise me much.

The Swedish government, after all, seems to regularly get involved in, umm... well... procurement of services for people's pets:

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2013/08/14/Swedish-authorities-intervene-in-cat-breeding-dispute/UPI-58881376502378/

In the case of reindeer, they are livestock to the Samis (Samer to Swedes). In fact, they are a very big deal in Norway and Sweden:

http://www.reindeer-husbandry.uit.no/online/Final_Report/sweden.pdf

And they wander pretty freely and can be destructive to other people's personal property so not everyone is particularly fond of them.

The government(s) compensate herders for loss of livestock by predation, poaching, and hit by vehicles - trains in particular. I have been told stories of how the Samer, if they happen to need a little cash, will lead some reindeer onto the tracks where they'll be run down. Haven't actually witnessed that, of course, so treat it for the heresay it is.

Old NFO said...

Yep, the exist! Met some of them in Stavanger, Norway when we had an 'issue' with them on a runway we needed to use...