Two reindeer were found dead in southeast Iceland last weekend after having gotten entangled in wired fencing. Two other reindeer had already been killed in the past weeks as a consequence of the wired fencing.

Search and rescue workers cut an entagled reindeer loose. Courtesy of ICE-SAR.

A fifth animal had to be put down because it had been stuck by the horns to a dead reindeer for some time and was on the brink of starvation.

A reindeer inspector had cut it loose a few days earlier, but the animal had proven unable to recover from the ordeal, visir.is reports.

A six-person task force, appointed by representatives of the Association of Organic Consumers and the Nature Preservation Society of East Iceland, went on an expedition to Flatey in Mýrar, where these accidents have occurred, on Saturday to have a talk with local farmers and clean up tangles of wired fencing.

“We went on this expedition because we think it is very important to get the farmers to sit down with us and explain their stance,” said Rósa Björk Halldórsdóttir, the Nature Preservation Society’s vice-chair.

She said they understand that the reindeer have damaged the fencing but that doesn’t change the fact that a solution all can agree on must be sought. The local authority of the Hornafjördur district brought up the matter for the second time at its meeting yesterday.

Intent was expressed to seek all possible means to maintain the reindeer’s welfare and at the same time limit the damage caused to farmers when wild herds progress to lowland pastures. The mayor of Höfn was appointed with the task of solving the problem.

ESA