Reindeer herding as private enterprise in Canada

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Author: Stager, J. K.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1984
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Northwest Territories; Canada; Mackenzie Delta; Slaughter; Polar Record; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400005064; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400005064

Abstract After unsuccessful introductions of reindeer into Canada during the early decades of this century, a herd brought from Alaska in 1935 was maintained successfully under government management (latterly under the Canadian Wildlife Service) for almost 40 years in the Mackenzie Delta region, Northwest Territories. Sold in 1974 into private ownership, the herd has since increased substantially in size; new management techniques have been developed to herd, handle and slaughter the animals. Meat, antlers in velvet and skins are the main products of a small but profitable local industry under native ownership. Currently numbering some 16 000 animals, the herd now justifies new management decisions affecting its future size and the scope of the enterprise.