The reindeer or caribou is an animal that people of all ages like, due to heredity and the connection that there is with the Christmas holidays. They can be very large animals weighing 200 to 700 pounds in their adult state for males; females reach 130 to 400 pounds. It is the only species of deer where both the male and the female develop antlers. They are very robust animals and their legs are shorter than those of other servants. Its protection against the cold is undoubtedly its two layers of skin. The undercoat is woolly and thick, the top coat is made up of fine hair that is very long.
Although we do not have the opportunity to meet these majestic animals, we place them in Northern European folklore and Christmas traditions. Dancer, Dasher, Prancer, Vinxen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph; They are the ones who accompany Santa Claus every year to spread joy to children around the world. Meanwhile his reindeer cousins ​​on earth are suffering and disappearing. As a curious fact about this beautiful and tender animal we have that the eyes of reindeer in summer times turn golden. This color change occurs in Tepetum Lucidum, which is a layer of tissue on the back of reindeer and many other vertebrate animals. This layer reflects the visible light backwards, just towards the retina of the cervid. This phenomenon is also reflected in cats and some dogs when at nightfall they seem to glow in the dark. In the summer the reindeer eye light is painted gold, but when the darkness of the long winter nights arrives, the tone of the eyes turns blue, to capture as much light as possible by increasing its reflection. : Animals in danger of extinction ) The rise in temperature due to global warming caused the thaw of a sick animal that died approximately 75 years ago, caused an outbreak of anthrax among local reindeer, which has also caused so many deaths of these species. Although these animals are periodically vaccinated, the authorities explain that the killing of reindeer is more effective because this is not how anthrax is spread.
The Russian government plans to slaughter 250,000 reindeer in the YamaloNenets region, in the Arctic fringe of Siberia to prevent the spread of new outbreaks of Anthrax. Anthrax is a contagious disease caused by the Bacillus Anthracis virus, in most cases it is fatal to people and animals. This alarm has been caused by the anthrax outbreak of the recent summer in Siberado, considered the most serious in the last 75 years. As a result, several shepherds were injured, while a child died. Every year during the months of November and December there is a reindeer slaughter; However, due to the seriousness of this emergency, the authorities have decided to advance the hunt and greatly increase the number of dead specimens, projecting the sacrifice of a third of the total number of these animals. According to research done by WSPA, the World Society for the Protection of Animals, has revealed the suffering of large herds of reindeer in Sweden and Finland, as they are trapped, transported and slaughtered for their meat. There are audiovisual materials showing the cruelty to the reindeer and the terrible suffering that these caribou experience at each stage of the commercial process. This cruelty is unacceptable.

Electrical storms have also been the cause of numerous massive deaths. Reindeer are animals that organize themselves in herds and stay together in storms. This also contributed to the large number of victims that recently occurred in Norway, where there was a bleak scene and there were more than 325 reindeer lying on the ground of a plain; The National Environmental Agency reported that the massacre in which more than 75 offspring died

Reindeer are animals used to roam free through the wild nature that saw them born, without prior contact with humans. They are terrified and try to escape when they feel threatened when they are chased and then trapped; They group them in large numbers and then transport them on snowmobiles.

The anguish of the reindeer increases when they are locked in pens, mutilated their ears and let them bleed. They suffer from severe stress when subjected by hunters, using disproportionate force to drive them to slaughterhouses. The suffering of the reindeer continues throughout the chain of the commercial process. (You may be interested: Giraffes in danger of extinction)

At this point there have been no convictions for reindeer mistreatment since, according to her claims, it is the first time that they have discovered this level of abuse and mistreatment that is given to reindeer and that investigators have extensively documented. The data indicates that we must act now because when we find out, the life of the reindeer could be a beautiful Christmas story.