The Cairngorm Reindeer herd of Scotland.

[ArthurC]

The Reindeer keepers of Cairngorm National Park lead daily walks to feed the herd on the mountainside, and we were lucky enough to go with them.

Filmed mostly with my Osmo Pocket, and a couple shots with my Canon for the telephoto.

 

[ff22]

Thanks for sharing. They certainly are endearing animals. I presume that they are not native to Scotland or that area?

 

[ArthurC]

Thanks for sharing. They certainly are endearing animals. I presume that they are not native to Scotland or that area?

Thank you. They appear friendly on the outside, but it's only because they think you have food. They're certainly not mean, they just don't care about humans unless food is involved.

Actually, they are native to that area, but like any other large animal, they were hunted to extinction on the British Isles hundreds of years ago. A Swedish guy who moved to Scotland re-established the herd with the governments help back in the 50s or 60s. There are around 2000 I think, and they keep about 200 in captivity at a time for herd maintenance and tourism purposes, and switch them out monthly or so.

 

[ff22]

Thank you. They appear friendly on the outside, but it's only because they think you have food. They're certainly not mean, they just don't care about humans unless food is involved.

Actually, they are native to that area, but like any other large animal, they were hunted to extinction on the British Isles hundreds of years ago. A Swedish guy who moved to Scotland re-established the herd with the governments help back in the 50s or 60s. There are around 2000 I think, and they keep about 200 in captivity at a time for herd maintenance and tourism purposes, and switch them out monthly or so.

Thanks for the background. Within the last week, the US culled a bunch of mountain goats from a national park (Teton???) since they are not native and interfere with native rocky mountain sheep. Same has been occurring in Olympic National Park with mountain goats - moving or culling.