Beware, reindeer in danger. If this Christmas we told the children again the story of Santa Claus and his reindeer, who fly from one part of the world to the other, in the next few years the story could end. In fact, reindeer are seriously at risk. And the fault is, once again, of climate change
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Attention, reindeer in danger. If this Christmas we told the children the story of Santa Claus and his four-legged friends who fly from one part of the world to the other, in the next few years the story could end. In fact, reindeer are seriously at risk. And the fault is, once again, of the gods climate changes.
The mighty animals, Santa's eternal friends, have to contend with a very real threat. A new study in China has found that global warming is shrinking entire reindeer populations.
Christmas gifts aside, theirs disappearance this is no small problem. In addition to the loss of the biodiversity, the presence of reindeer and their grazing habits contribute to keep the Earth's climate in balance.
Consequently, fewer reindeer in the world would make it possible to combat global warming less. A dog that bites its own tail as further losses among reindeer populations would result from a further rise in temperatures.
The study, published this month in the Journal for Nature Conservation, showed a sharp 25% decline in these creatures in China from the 1970 numbers.
Reindeer populations here have dropped by more than a quarter over the past 40 years or so. The Mount Daxinganling area is the primary reindeer habitat in China. The latter has had to deal with climate change, which has caused soil degradation and higher temperatures.
As if that were not enough, poaching (the horns that are used in traditional Chinese medicine) and car accidents involving these creatures have also added to this. Against the latter case, it was thought of color the horns with a fluorescent substance to signal its presence to Lapland motorists.
While the study focuses exclusively on reindeer from China, elsewhere it is no better. The populations of are also in danger in Alaska, Russia, Canada. a relationship of 2013 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that large herds in these countries all suffered a sharp decline. The largest, located on Russia's Taymyr Peninsula, has declined from around one million reindeer in 2000 to 700.000 in 2013.
How long will they still be able to hold out?
Francesca Mancuso
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