Rutting behaviour in an enclosured group of wild forest reindeer (Rangifer tarandus fennicus Lönnb.)

The rutting behaviour of wild forest reindeer {Rangifer tarandus fennicus Lönnb.) was studied 1981 - 83 in a 15 ha enclosure located in Kivijärvi, Central Finland (63° N). The group consisted of two old stags, 6-9 hinds and their calves and yearlings. The main sections of the study were social structure, social signals, time budget and daily activity. In early September the aggressiveness of the stags towards females concentrated on those individuals which had last dominated them. Adult females were more aggressive to young females than to each other. The proposed aggressiveness of the hinds towards yearlings may be explained by the lower predictability of the hierarchial status of the young animals. The main character of observable social signals seemed to be similar to those described in earlier studies concerning the genus Rangifer. Stags often made snapping-like movements with their mouths during agonistic behaviour. Low-stretch displays and investigation of the urine of the females concentrated on the estrous hind during the day preceeding the pre-copulatory period (which commenced when the hind did not yet avoid the stag). The stag always sniffed at the vulva of the female after copulation. The harem stag did not stop grazing during the peak of the rut. Differences in the time budget between the dominant and subdominant stag as between estrous and anestrous hinds were clear. Mating occurred most often during the 3 hours after sundown. In the dark the old stags often sparred and their activity towards females seemed to be weaker than in the daylight hours. During the peak rut the stags were observed to spar only while the females were resting

Reproductive investment by females in semi-domesticated reindeer

This paper discusses maternal investment in a herd of semi-domesticated reindeer in Kaamanen, Finnish Lapland (69°N 27°E). Male-producing cows weighed 2% more at the previous conception then the female-producing cows did. The body weight of cow accounted for more of the variation of birth sex ratio than the age or the parity. The lightest cows (<C61 kg) produced a significant excess (62%) of female calves. Both the medium-sized and the largest cows gave birth to a slight, nonsignificant excess of males. In terms of weight change from one conception to the next, rearing a male to weaning was more expensive to cows than rearing a female. The frequency of reproductive failures did not, however, depend significantly upon the sex of the previous calf. The survival and growth of male and female calves related in an approximately similar fashion to maternal weight

Regional differences in density-dependent mortality and reproduction in Finnish reindeer

Reindeer in the southern and central regions of reindeer husbandry in Finland feed on arboreal lichens or are given supplementary rations from midwinter whereas in the northern region reindeer use snow-covered forage throughout winter. Rates of mortality and reproduction were examined using data from population crashes of semi-domesticated reindeer that occurred in Northern Finland during 1960-1987. The mortality and reproductive rate were density-dependent in the southern region and the mortality was density-dependent in the central region. The density-dependence was most probably due to food competition in forest cutting areas where reindeer gather to feed on arboreal lichens from felled trees. In the northern region mortality was not density-dependent indicating that where reindeer feed on over-utilized winter range the effects of increased feeding competition are masked by very large changes in the availability of forage

Karhukanta Suomessa 2019

Suomessa oli ennen vuoden karhunmetsästyskautta 2019 arviolta 2300-2500 karhua. Todenäköisin arvio lukumäärästä (2360 yksilöä) on noin 14 % suurempi kuin vuotta 2018 koskeva arvio. Arvio karhukannan yksilömäärästä perustuu suurpetoyhdyshenkilöiden tekemiin ja Tassu-järjestelmään kirjaamiin havaintoihin karhunpentueista. Karhuhavaintoja kertyi 10 111, joista pentuehavaintoja oli yhteensä 1 260. Pentueita koskevissa jälkihavainnoissa oli useammin mittaustulos jälkien koosta kuin vuonna 2018. Alueellisesti kannan runsastuminen näyttää olleen voimakkainta poronhoitoalueen eteläpuolelle sijoittuvien keskisen ja läntisen Suomen alueella. Poronhoitoalueen eteläpuolisen Itä-Suomen alueella ja poronhoitoalueella erot olivat vähäisiä vuoteen 2018 verrattuna. Viimeisen kolmen vuoden aikana on karhunkaatolupia myönnetty aiempaa enemmän. Odotusten vastaisesti kannan kasvu jatkui edelleen. Yksilömäärää koskevissa arvioissa tapahtuneet muutokset eivät kuitenkaan johdu pelkästään muutoksista karhukannassa vaan arvioihin vaikuttavat osin myös havainnoinnin aktiivisuudessa ja kattavuudessa tapahtuneet muutokset. Ennustemallin mukaan Suomen karhukanta pysyisi nykyisen suuruisena, jos metsästysverotus on 16 %.202