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Reindeer starve on icy tundra

NZPA-Reuter Moscow More than 1300 Siberian reindeer have died because frost iced over their staple diet of moss, says a Soviet official. Veniamin Kuroseyev told the Government newspaper, “Izvestia,” that authorities in the Chukotsk region of the Soviet Far-East were selectively killing reindeer which would otherwise starve for lack of fodder. -- '

Heavy rains and a rise in temperatures in November thawed large parts of the Siberian tundra. When the weather grew colder, layers of ice formed over the moss and prevented the reindeer from scraping away snow to reach their food.

Siberian authorities have flown in some supplies of fodder, salt, and animal fat for the reindeer, but Mr Kuroseyev said about 90,000 were still in danger. The total reindeer population of the region, west of the Bering Straits, which divide the Soviet Union from the United States, is about 500,000.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19860129.2.138.16

Bibliographic details

Press, 29 January 1986, Page 23

Word Count
146

Reindeer starve on icy tundra Press, 29 January 1986, Page 23

Reindeer starve on icy tundra Press, 29 January 1986, Page 23