Siberia proposes culling 250,000 reindeer before Christmas

Around 250,000 reindeers could be killed in Siberia over fears of an anthrax epidemic.

Dmitry Kobylkin, the governor of the Yamalo-Nenets region, which is home to the world's largest reindeer herd, has given officials a deadline of today to come up with a plan to drastically reduce numbers.

The Siberian Times says the cull is to take place "before Christmas" as "traditionally the slaughtering season is November and December".

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Culls are usually carried out on a small scale. This year, however, could see the death of more than a third of the 730,000 reindeer in the area.

It may sound like "the nightmare before Christmas", says The Guardian, but it is prompted by serious concerns about the spread of anthrax.

Anthrax is known as the "zombie disease" because its spores can lie dormant for centuries. It's thought the warmest Arctic summer on record thawed the carcass of reindeer that died from the disease several decades ago, releasing the spores and leading to an outbreak that has already killed 2,349 of the animals.

Earlier this year, a 12-year-old boy died after eating infected reindeer meat. He was one of 72 nomadic herders from the extreme north who were hospitalised following the outbreak.

Of the 730,000-strong herd, around 300,000 live close together on the overgrazed Yamal Peninsular, which increases the risk of the disease spreading.

Anthropologists have expressed concerns that a mass cull will undermine the traditional way of life of the nomadic herders, who rely on the reindeer for their livelihood. One proposal under consideration would see them offered a cut-rate mortgage on an apartment in exchange for allowing their animals to be culled, the Siberian Times says.