14 DAY TRIAL // Roughly 3,500 reindeer inhabiting the British Island of South Georgia were recently killed by hunters on account of their being an invasive species whose presence in these regions was likely to negatively impact on local ecosystems.
Thus, the killing of these animals was no more and no less than an attempt to protect local wildlife, the people in charge of carrying out the cull explain.
For the time being, approximately 1,500 reindeer are left to roam said British island. However, authorities are fairly confident that, throughout the course of the following years, these animals will also be killed. Sources say that, following their slaughtering the reindeer, the hunters did their best to salvage whatever meat was left edible.
This meat is to be sold to the Falkland Islands in an attempt to gain back some of the money initially invested in the cull.
By the looks of it, reindeer first arrived on the island of South Georgia back in 1911. At that time, their herd was made up of roughly 10 individuals.
Still, the animals took quite a liking to their new surroundings, and soon enough, the overall headcount for the species soared to about 5,000.
This might not have been such a big problem if it were not for the fact that, while going about with their daily routine, these reindeer trampled native plants and toyed with the natural habitat of local animal species such as penguins and several other birds.
“The reindeer have become very destructive. Several decades of over-grazing means that the reindeer are a severe threat to birds that are only found on this island,” stated Reidar Andersen, the current director of the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate.
“It [the removal of these 3,500 reindeer] will be an amazing change for the island,” argued Martin Collins, now working as the chief executive of the government of South Georgia.