The Arctic tundra's climate is turning against the world's reindeer

In August, a lightning blast claimed the lives of more than 300 reindeer in Norway. The month before, an anthrax epidemic — which Russian officials blamed on microbes that thawed after spending decades frozen inside a reindeer corpse — sickened several indigenous people in Siberia. Anthrax killed a 12-year-old boy, and reindeer died by the hundreds. In the disease’s aftermath, the regional government proposed to terminate 250,000 reindeer by Christmas. Rudolph still can’t catch a break.

Even the Arctic tundra has turned against the animals, so well-adapted to the clime, as the area warms at a faster rate than the rest of the globe.

http://www.startribune.com/the-arctic-tundra-s-climate-is-turning-against-the-world-s-reindeer/401512135/