A 500-meter long strip of wired fencing was left in the pastures of the farm Flatey in Mýrar, southeast Iceland, when the fence was replaced there in 2005. The old fence has proved a deathtrap for reindeer whose horns have gotten stuck in it.
Search and rescuers come to the aid of an entangled reindeer. Courtesy of ICE-SAR.
However, when part of the old fence was finally removed and the remaining strip tightened earlier this winter, wild reindeer have no longer become entangled in it and died as they had been in the years since 2005, ruv.is reports.
The old fence, which posed the most danger to reindeer, served no purpose. However, in other cases farmers have complained that reindeer damage fences that are in use, causing millions of ISK in damages.
However, specialists say that in order for reindeer to get entangled in fences, they must have become loose and so tightening the fences on a regular basis will solve the problem.
The Icelandic Environment Agency has now advertised a proposal on the division of a reindeer fund for farmers, the purpose of which is to cover damage caused to their properties by the wild herds.
While fences no longer prove hazardous for reindeer in east Iceland, drivers in the region are asked to be on the alert; reindeer have been hit by vehicles in Álftafjörður*, Lón and Mýrar in the winter darkness.
Click here to read more about the entangled reindeer.
ESA
* The Icelandic letter ð is pronounced like th in that.
