Wild reindeer of the Kamchatka Peninsula - past, present, and future

Abstract

A unique subspecies of wild reindeer (Rangifer tarandus phylarchus Hollister) that is endemic to the Kamchatka Peninsula has been declining in number since the 1950s due to commercial hunting, increasing industrial development and competition with domestic reindeer. The largest remaining herd of wild reindeer occurs in the Kronotsky Reserve in northeastern Kamchatka, and the reserve is now critical to the preservation of this subspecies of reindeer.