Forest reindeer
(Rangifer tarandus fennicus)
Coordinator: Hanna-Maija Lahtinen
Institution: Helsinki Zoo
IUCN Red List status
Programme roles
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• Insurance population The EAZA population has been managed as a backup population since 2001 and will be continued to serve as such in the future. • Source The EAZA population is supplying individuals for reintroduction/restocking in Finland. The captive population is thus part of an on-going Finnish LIFE project (WildForestReindeerLIFE - The wild forest reindeer (Rangifer tarandus fennicus) of Finland: Conservation and recovery of historic range). The LIFE project has made it possible to add new founders into the ex situ population and significantly expanded the GD in the current captive stock. |
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• Conservation education The captive population will be used to educate zoo visitors about a successful European reintroduction programme. For Finnish EAZA Members, the educational message of the cultural importance of forest reindeer will be underlined. |
Programme partners
Programme numbers
In December 2020, the Forest reindeer EEP had 143 animals in 24 institutions.
Programme highlights
- The EAZA Deer TAG has a Facebook page where they publish relevant stories related to deer species and TAG-related news. If you want to keep up to date, please follow their Facebook page here.
- There is an article about the Deer TAG space programme in Zooquaria 109 (Autumn 2020 - page 14).
- Watch this video about a reintroduction programme for European forest reindeer.
- EAZA published its 2021 Annual TAG Report.
This work is supported by the European Union LIFE NGO funding programme. The European Union is not responsible for the views displayed in publications and/or in conjunction with the activities for which the grant is used.