The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), is a species of deer native to arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of northern Europe and Siberia. Three subspecies occur in the region: the Forest reindeer (R. t. fennicus), the Mountain Reindeer (R. t. tarandus) and the Svalbard Reindeer (R. t. platyrhynchus) of the high Arctic. There are a lot of domesticated reindeer herds in Sami territory in northern Scandinavia, which exclude wild reindeer in these areas. Wild reindeer currently occur in southern Norway (tarandus) and Finland and Russia (fennicus), where their ranges are much smaller than before. Reindeer used to occur in Scotland, as well. Wild reindeer occur in about 25% of their original range in the W Palearctic.
Status in w palearctic | 2-25% of original range |
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Ecological niche | Large Herbivore |
Region | Europe - Northern |
Z ecotourism potential | 3 |