Direction of escape in reindeer

We tested the hypothesis that reindeer prefer to run uphill and upwind when escaping from man. Groups of wild and feral reindeer in Norway, Svalbard and on Wrangel Island were approached and their behaviour and direction of escape were recorded. Two stages of interaction with man were studied: first...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Rangifer
Main Authors: Leonid M. Baskin, Terje Skogland
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Septentrio Academic Publishing 1997
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.7557/2.17.1.384
https://doaj.org/article/ba2ee892803d449daeb558d8447a77f5
Description
Summary:We tested the hypothesis that reindeer prefer to run uphill and upwind when escaping from man. Groups of wild and feral reindeer in Norway, Svalbard and on Wrangel Island were approached and their behaviour and direction of escape were recorded. Two stages of interaction with man were studied: first flight and final withdrawal. First flights proved to be away from man, upwind and uphill. Most final withdrawals were in the direction reindeer were moving when first observed.