Editing Reindeer (section)

=== History ===
Reindeer hunting by humans has a very long history.

{{blockquote| Wild reindeer "may well be the species of single greatest importance in the entire anthropological literature on hunting."<ref name="Burch" />}}

Both [[Aristotle]] and [[Theophrastus]] have short accounts – probably based on the same source – of an ox-sized deer species, named ''[[Tarand (animal)|tarandos]]'', living in the land of the [[Budini|Bodines]] in [[Scythia]], which was able to change the colour of its fur to obtain camouflage. The latter is probably a misunderstanding of the seasonal change in reindeer fur colour. The descriptions have been interpreted as being of reindeer living in the southern [[Ural Mountains]] in c. 350 BC.<ref name=Sarauw>{{Cite book|last1= Sarauw |first1= Georg | author-link1= Georg F.L. Sarauw |editor1-first= H. F. E. |editor1-last= Jungersen |editor2-first= E. |editor2-last= Warming |editor2-link= Eugenius Warming | title= Mindeskrift i Anledning af Hundredeaaret for Japetus Steenstrups Fødsel |chapter= Das Rentier in Europa zu den Zeiten Alexanders und Cæsars |trans-chapter= The reindeer in Europe to the times of Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar|year= 1914 |location= Copenhagen |language= de |pages= 1–33 |title-link= Japetus Steenstrup |publisher=Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters}}</ref>
[[File:ReindeerTOP.jpg|thumb|upright|The tragelaphus or deer-goat]]
A deer-like animal described by [[Julius Caesar]] in his ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'' (chapter 6.26) from the [[Hercynian Forest]] in the year 53 BC is most certainly to be interpreted as a reindeer:<ref name=Sarauw/><ref>{{cite book |quote=Est bos cervi figura, cuius a media fronte inter aures unum cornu* exsistit excelsius magisque directum his, quae nobis nota sunt, cornibus: ab eius summo sicut palmae ramique* late diffunduntur. Eadem est feminae marisque natura, eadem forma magnitudoque cornuum. |year=1898 |last1=Greenough |first1=J. B. |last2=D'Ooge |first2=Benjamin L. |last3=Daniell |first3=M. Grant |title=Commentary on Caesar, Gallic War |chapter=book 6, chapter 26 |publisher=Ginn and Company |location=Boston |chapter-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0017&redirect=true |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120426165859/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0017&redirect=true |url-status=live |archive-date=26 April 2012}}</ref>
{{blockquote|There is an [[ox]] shaped like a [[Deer|stag]]. In the middle of its forehead a single horn grows between its ears, taller and straighter than the animal horns with which we are familiar. At the top this horn spreads out like the palm of a hand or the branches of a tree. The females are of the same form as the males, and their horns are the same shape and size.}}

According to [[Olaus Magnus]]'s ''[[A Description of the Northern Peoples|Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus]]'' – printed in [[Rome]] in the year 1555 – [[Gustav I of Sweden]] sent 10 reindeer to [[Albert, Duke of Prussia]], in the year 1533. It may be these animals that [[Conrad Gessner]] had seen or heard of.

During [[World War II]], the [[Soviet Army]] used reindeer as [[pack animal]]s to transport food, ammunition and post from [[Murmansk]] to the [[Karelian Front|Karelian front]] and bring wounded soldiers, pilots and equipment back to the base. About 6,000 reindeer and more than 1,000 reindeer herders were part of the operation. Most herders were [[Nenets people|Nenets]], who were mobilised from the [[Nenets Autonomous Okrug]], but reindeer herders from the Murmansk, [[Arkhangelsk Oblast|Arkhangelsk]] and [[Komi Republic|Komi]] regions also participated.<ref>Trude Pettersen: [http://barentsobserver.com/en/topics/war-memorial-honor-wwii-reindeer-battalions War memorial to honor WWII reindeer battalions] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130620161807/http://barentsobserver.com/en/topics/war-memorial-honor-wwii-reindeer-battalions |date=20 June 2013}}. Barents Observer, 27 February 2012</ref><ref>[https://www.npr.org/2011/08/14/139619834/when-reindeer-helped-win-wwii In WWII, Reindeer Were Our Animal Allies] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029204028/http://www.npr.org/2011/08/14/139619834/when-reindeer-helped-win-wwii |date=29 October 2013}}. [[National Public Radio]], 14 August 2011</ref>

In the [[FIS Alpine Ski World Cup]] event held in Levi, Finland each year, the winner of the women's slalom event is awarded a reindeer. The prize is largely symbolic, as all the reindeer awarded continue living in on a farm in Finland.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-17 |title=Money, Trophies, Reindeer? The FIS' World Cup Stop In Finland Gives Skiers A Chance To Win A Unique Prize |url=https://www.teamusa.com/news/2022/november/17/the-fis-world-cup-stop-in-finland-gives-skiers-a-chance-to-win-a-reindeer |access-date=2025-02-22 |website=www.teamusa.com |language=en}}</ref>