Finnish reindeer

V. G. Geptner et al. Considered that the separation of forest reindeer of the Scandinavian Peninsula and the European part of Russia (in the late XIX - early XX centuries, forest reindeer lived in the Kostroma and Nizhny Novgorod provinces) from deer inhabiting the tundra of Fennoscandia , in particular, the Lapland reserve , unreasonably, that is, both forms belong to the nominative subspecies Rangifer tarandus tarandus . But at the same time, these authors identified R. t. As a separate subspecies of the Siberian forest deer . valentinae Flerov , 1933 ^[1] .

A similar point of view was held by I.I. Sokolov. He examined the Siberian forest deer R. t. valentinae Flerov, 1933 as a valid subspecies, while the forest zone of the European part in the area of ​​this form was questioned. Nothing was said directly in this work about the systematic position of the reindeer in the forest zone of Finland and Karelia ^[2] .

In his monograph on Olenim, the author of the description of the Siberian forest deer K.K. Flerov in Eurasia identified 7 and North America 8 subspecies of reindeer. Flerov directly indicates that he occupies the tundra and taiga of Europe, that is, Rangifer tarandus fennicus as the younger synonym for this subspecies ^[3] .

A.A. Danilkin considers it reasonable to single out only four forms among the reindeer of Eurasia: R. t. tarandus, R. t. platyrhynchus (island subspecies, Spitsbergen Island, etc.), R. t. sibiricus (tundra of Siberia east of the Lena) and R. t. phylarchus (Kamchatka subspecies) ^[4] .

The latest mammalian summary “Mammal Species of the World” recognizes the validity of the subspecies Rangifer tarandus fennicus in the absence of the subspecies R. t. valentinae . This means that the name Rangifer tarandus fennicus is extended to all forest reindeer of Eurasia from Finland to the Primorsky Territory ^[5] . This deprives Finnish forest deer of their specificity and creates problems with the protection of this form, since forest reindeer in most of Siberia is an object of hunting.

Thus, since domestic zoologists, possessing the most comprehensive materials on the variability of Eurasian deer, do not recognize the validity of this subspecies, it is advisable to consider the Finnish reindeer as a group of forest reindeer populations in Fennoscandia, considering their taxonomic status not resolved.

Finnish forest reindeer is one of the largest forms of reindeer. His body is 180-220 cm long and 10-15 cm tail. The male is larger than the female, weighs 150-250 kg, and the females weigh about 100 kg. Their long legs, wide hooves and narrower V-shaped horns facilitate movement in deep snow in forest habitats ^[6] .

In the 17th century, the Finnish forest reindeer inhabited all of Finland and the north of the European part of Russia. Hunting, reindeer husbandry and habitat degradation as a result of forest exploitation led to their almost complete extinction in Finland by the end of the 19th century ^[6] . In 1700, in Russia, the population was concentrated west of Kandalaksha and in the vicinity of Lake Onega , but hunting and forestry also reduced their numbers in these areas. On the territory of the USSR, the main source of Finnish reindeer distribution by the 70s of the last century was beyond the line of border alienation in the vicinity of Kostomuksha. There, in 1983, in order to protect this form, the Kostomuksha Reserve was created. Between 1979 and 1980, Finnish forest deers were re-introduced in the Salamajärvi National Park in central Finland from the Kainuu province. A small population of about 1000 individuals also lives in Southern Ostrobothnia ^[7] . As their population recovered in Finland, it was suggested that an increase in the number of wolves could be partially responsible for the slowdown in recovery ^[8] .

• Rangifer tarandus fennicus at the website of Korkeasaari Zoo.