Predation in the reindeer husbandry area in Finland during 1976-86

During the last ten years the number of semi-domesticated reindeer has increased markedly in Finland. During the years 1976-86 predators killed a total of 11 295 reindeer in the Finnish reindeer husbandry area. Predators killed mostly calves and hinds. With the exception of the Kåsivarsi and Muotkatunturi reindeer herding cooperatives, kills of predators were concentrated in the reindeer herding areas on the eastern border. During 1976-86 predators killed most reindeer in April June, and the majority of preys were calves. Most reindeer were killed by wolves (26.9%), bears (24.7%), wolverines (22.6%) and eagles (15.9%). Wolves, bears, wolverines and lynxes killed mainly adult reindeer, eagles killed mainly calves. Wolves killed reindeer mainly during October January, lynxes during January April, wolverines during February April, eagles during May July and bears during May October. During the last years the number of reindeer killed by lynxes has increased in Finland.


Introduction
The reindeer husbandry area in Finland is about 122 317 km 2 .The total number of semi-domesticated and freely grazing reindeer during summer is about 366 000.About 100 000 calves (birth-weight 4-6 kg) are born every spring during May and June.During winter 1986/87 the number of counted reindeer (over 1-year-old) was 230 465.About twothirds of Finnish reindeer live all year round in forests where there is deep snow during winter.During the last 10 years the number of reindeer has increased in different reindeer herding cooperatives, especially in the north (Fig. 1).It was estimated that there were 476 large predators (249 bears (Ursus arctos), 77 wolves (Canis lupus), 63 wolverines (Gulo gulo) and 87 lynxes (Lynx lynx) in 1984 in the Finnish reindeer herding area in 1984.
All semi-domesticated reindeer in Finland belong to Finns and Lapps.If a reindeer is killed or injured by predators, and if certain requirements are met, the reindeer's owner may receive compensation from state funds.One important requirement is that the prey must be found.During 1974-86 together 30 million FIM (mean 2.31 million FIM/year) was paid from predator damage funds to reindeer herders in Finland.The compensation system has been criticized by reindeer owners who claim that many kills, mainly calves, are never found.Reindeer owners can also not receive compensation for the time and work involved in searching for prey and in preventing predation.
This paper presents data on predation in the reindeer husbandry area in Finland during different seasons.

Material and methods
Data about damage from predation in the reindeer husbandry area in Finland during 1976-86 were collected from the statistics of the Reindeer Herding Association (Paliskuntain Yhdistys).

Results
The number of reindeer killed by predatores in Finland has decreased during the last years (see Nieminen & Leppaluoto 1985).

Fig. 4 .
Fig. 4. Average number of reindeer killed by predators during 1976-86 in different reindeer herding co-operatives in Finland.

Fig. 6 .
Fig. 6.Number of reindeer killed by predators in different months during 1976-86 in Finland.In May -June the majority of reindeer killed by predators were calves (black).

Fig. 10 .
Fig. 10.Average number of reindeer killed by wolves each year during 1976-86 in different reindeer herding co-operatives in Finland.The highest number of reindeer killed by wolves was found in the Lappi and Sallan pohjoinen co-operatives.

Table 2 .
Reindeer killed by various predators during 1976-86 in Finland.
Fig. 12.Average number of reindeer killed by bears each year during 1976-86 in reindeer herding co-operatives in Finland.The highest number of reindeer killed by bears was found in the Hammastunturi and Ivalo co-operatives.Fig. 14.Average number of reindeer killed by lynxes each year during 1976-86 in different reindeer herding co-operatives in Finland.The highest number of reindeer killed by lynxes was found in the Hossa-Irni co-operatives.