The heath Fljótsdalsheiði is no longer the main habitat of reindeer in Iceland but the southern East Fjords. Reindeer specialists believe that the main reason is not the construction of a dam at nearby Kárahnjúkar but rather a change in climate and vegetation.
Icelandic reindeer. Photo: Páll Stefánsson/Iceland Review.
In the next hunting season, licenses for more than 1,200 reindeer will be issued. Hunting controls the herds’ numbers and prevents the wild animals from ruining the vegetation, ruv.is reports.
East Iceland is divided into nine hunting zones and the goal is to limit the number of reindeer to one animal per square kilometer.
As herds are moving southwards, the hunting quota for the municipality Djúpivogur has been more than doubled as the number of reindeer in the region has exceeded two per square kilometer.
ESA
