Russian reindeer farming in danger

There are thought to be more than 700,000 reindeer in the Yamal-Nenets region in the arctic zone of the West Siberian plain. It is believed to be the largest herd in the world. Yamal, in the language of the indigenous Nenets, means "the end of the world".

The Nenets, an indigenous people in northern arctic Russia, are reindeer herders who own about half a million domestic reindeer. In Soviet times, the government tried to force the nomadic Nenets to become sedentary. Their culture suffered due to the collectivisation policy of the Soviet government.

Yamal peninsula, a remote section of Siberia, is where traditional large-scale nomadic reindeer husbandry has been best preserved. Nenets migrate hundreds of miles with their animals from winter grazing lands below the Arctic Circle to the tundra near Yamal's northern coast. Yamal also holds Russia's biggest natural gas reserves.

A Nenets child covered in fur at a reindeer farm. The nomads and their livestock are familiar with winter temperatures which can sink below minus 50 degrees Celsius (-58 degrees Fahrenheit). Last year, 70,000 reindeer starved to death when ice and deep snow sealed off the Arctic tundra where they graze.

Now, the Nenets are facing a man-made threat as officials push ahead with unprecedented culling that calls for at least one in seven of the Yamal's reindeer to be slaughtered. During the cull, herders must bring their reindeer to one of six regional slaughter houses, each of which can process up to 260 animals a day.

The cull is advocated by local officials and scientists who say the reindeer population is leading to over-grazing and more frequent epidemics. In 2016 there was an outbreak of anthrax, after the hottest Arctic summer on record. However, opponents of the culling plan say traditional pasture lands are disappearing due to the growth of the oil and gas industry in resource-rich Yamal.

Greenpeace Russia has said of the cull. "It is an unequivocal tragedy for both people and animals. It will end up with nomadic reindeer herders turning into settled reindeer farmers. This is a completely different form of husbandry, and means the loss of a culture." (Author: Nadine Berghausen)