Some news, honestly, you don't even know how to talk about it!
It's just not clear what's going on in people's heads if they do such things! Really, they're just turning the world around them into a branch of a madhouse!
This kind of event, turning international cooperation in nature conservation into a theater of the absurd, happened recently.
The Norwegian Agriculture Agency (analogous to our Ministry) announced that out of 42 reindeer that crossed into Russia this year, 40 have already been returned to Norway. And the remaining two reindeer will soon be returned as well.
According to Magnar Evertsen, a representative of the Agency, the returned animals were slaughtered out of concerns that they might cross back into Russia. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority may also demand the destruction of the carcasses for safety reasons.
And this is no joke, it's entirely serious! This is a statement from an official government agency in Norway!
The reindeer ‘defectors’ were simply executed…
They are killing reindeer that grazed on Russian territory to avoid paying compensation for the damage they (the reindeer) caused to the environment.
The news about the execution of reindeer in Norway appeared on August 25th.
The story of compensation for the actions of the reindeer began a month earlier.
On August 3rd, the press reported that the Murmansk reserve demanded over 420 million rubles from Norway for the damage allegedly caused by Norwegian reindeer grazing in Russia.
The Murmansk reserve “Pasvik” filed a lawsuit demanding 47 million NOK from Norway. At that time, it was over 424 million rubles. They demanded compensation for the 40 Norwegian reindeer that grazed on the Russian side of the reserve's territory for two months.
According to the reserve's director, Natalia Polikarpova, the animals were spotted on camera traps in December 2022. And after two months, the reindeer were captured and returned to Norway. However, the Norwegian press claims that some of the animals had been in Russia since 2019. But due to the “pandemic and geopolitical circumstances” they were only recently discovered and returned.
Natalia Polikarpova states on behalf of the Russian side that for the reserve's area of 14.7 thousand hectares, 40 reindeer are a lot.
The Russian administration of the reserve also notes that the damage assessment took into account compensation methods used between Norway and Finland. Therefore, the amount cannot be considered inflated.
This is what the reserve director stated literally:
“There is grazing damage to the ground cover in the form of lichens and shrubs, as well as trampling with hooves, leading to degradation of the vegetation cover in the reserve. This, in turn, affects increased soil erosion. That is, we are losing a component of the ecosystem, the restoration of which will take years. And we didn't even apply the red book coefficient; if we did, it would be multiplied by five.”
In other words, the real compensation amount, according to the Russian reserve administration, should have been much higher.
Natalia Polikarpova emphasizes that the reindeer that entered the reserve are essentially domestic.
Reindeer are herded by the indigenous Sami people in central and Arctic Norway. This people traditionally lived in Lapland, which extends from the northern regions of Norway through Sweden and Finland to Russia. In the Arctic region, most of the Sami live on the Norwegian side of the border. Just like their reindeer, which graze in semi-wild conditions.
Therefore, the Russian administration of the reserve fiercely argues that the incident cannot be attributed to the natural migration of wild animals. Natalia Polikarpova claims that the Russian reserve administration repeatedly pointed out to the Norwegian side the need to build a fence and drive the animals away from the Russian border.
The Norwegian side calls the compensation amount enormous. Acting Director of Reindeer Husbandry, Torhild Gjellme, says they have not encountered such figures before.
The Norwegian press supplements the unreality of the amount requested by the Russian side with a comparison: the amount requested by the Russian side is comparable to payments by oil companies for multi-ton fuel spills that led to large-scale destruction of ecosystems.
This is a tough conflict.
Ending so far with the execution of forty reindeer by the Norwegians.
Financial claims, as I understand it, have not been fully resolved yet either. The legal battle will continue regardless of the death of the reindeer that caused the lawsuit.
Another feature of the situation is that the “Pasvik” reserve is part of the cross-border “Pasvik-Inari” park in Russia, Norway, and Finland.
It was originally created for international cooperation in the field of nature protection.
Now everything has come down to tough conflicts, demands for astronomical compensation sums for moss eaten by the reindeer, and the execution of these reindeer-‘poachers’ in the end.
© PAVEL PASHKOV
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