Spotting reindeer in Sweden and Norway is a unique experience that gives you the opportunity to see these iconic animals in their natural environment. After all, reindeer are only found in the far north in Europe. They live in vast forests and tundras and are often associated with the Sami, the original inhabitants of Lapland who have depended on these animals for their livelihood and culture for centuries. The best chance of spotting a reindeer, also called caribou, is in the northern regions known for their reindeer populations. They often live in large groups and travel long distances. Partly because of this, they are relatively easy to spot.
How to recognize a reindeer and what is the difference with a moose?
To understand the difference between a reindeer and a moose or large deer, you can mainly look at the habitat, body structure and antlers. Because although they all belong to the Cervidae family, they are very different in several ways. Like the reindeer is the only deer species in which not only the males but also the females bear antlers. This is not the case with moose and other cervids. In addition, the antlers of many male cervids also fall off every year, after which they grow again. The shape of the antlers is also not the same. The antlers of the elk are leaf-shaped and those of a red deer are very pointed, in contrast to the antlers of a reindeer, which have slightly rounder tips. Reindeer antlers also look much ‘softer’ because they are covered with thick hairy velvet.
Another difference to distinguish the cervids is by looking at the size. The moose is the largest of the bunch and is therefore easy to distinguish from a reindeer or red deer. The height at the withers of the moose varies from 150 cm to more than 200 cm! The antlers can also easily reach a wingspan of 2 meters. Furthermore, the moose stands high on its legs and has a long snout, which is also called the moose trunk because of its size and shape. Due to its large size and large leaf-shaped antlers, a moose is easy to distinguish from a reindeer, which has a different antler shape and a withers height of 80 cm to 150 cm. It becomes more difficult if you compare a reindeer with a red deer. Because these are approximately the same size, but a reindeer is somewhat more robustly built and has a thicker coat. An important difference between the two is also the habitat. Due to the cold climate, a red deer is only found in southern Scandinavia, while reindeer mainly live in (sub)arctic regions. So do you see a cervid in central or northern Scandinavia that is smaller than the moose? Then you can be pretty sure it’s a reindeer.
Where do reindeer live?
Most reindeer live in (sub)arctic areas, where the climate is relatively cold. This area runs through the United States (Alaska) Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. When we think of reindeer, we quickly think of snow. After all, the reindeer is also known from Santa Claus. But reindeer do not only live in cold winter areas. In spring and summer they migrate to the tundra and forests, where they are less bothered by the many mosquitoes that suddenly appear around June and can search for food independently. They often live in large groups and travel long distances.
The Sami and reindeer in the wild
Although reindeer usually roam freely in nature, there is a good chance that they are not wild reindeer. That’s because most reindeer are from the Sami. The Sami are the original inhabitants of Northern Scandinavia and the only remaining indigenous people in Europe. They often still live (partially) in a traditional way and reindeer play an important role in this. The Sami are therefore also called the reindeer people. The Sami are a nomadic people, where the reindeer are used as draft animals. The reindeer also provide meat and milk, but in fact almost everything from the reindeer is used. They use the skins to make clothing, the antlers are made into various tools and they use the bones to make jewelry. In this way, the reindeer not only provide food and all kinds of things for their own use, but they also have enough left to sell so that the Sami can generate income.
Although most reindeer belong to the Sami, they roam freely in the area much of the time. Because keeping the herds close together increases the risk of diseases and additional costs because they need to be fed additionally if they stay in the same place. The Sami therefore prefer to let their reindeer wander around the area. This way the herd is more spread out and they can look for food independently. Reindeer prefer to eat short moss, but grass, tree bark, leaves, acorns and tubers are also eaten. Hence, the forests and tundra are their favorite places to stay. There they look for food to graze, a place to reproduce or they look for shelter from mosquitoes in the summer. Reindeer live in herds, which protects them from predators and helps them find food and water in their vast habitat. This makes reindeer in Sweden and Norway much easier to spot than a moose. But most reindeer are not really wild.
Spotting reindeer in Sweden and Norway
In the middle and north of Sweden and Norway it is relatively easy to spot reindeer, although sometimes you still have to be a bit lucky. The best chance is in the spring and summer when they roam freely in the forests and tundra. In winter it’s a bit more difficult. This is partly because the snow makes it more difficult for you to enter wooded areas and some parts are even closed off in winter, but also because many herds are herded together by the Sami in winter and therefore do not roam freely. That’s because climate change is making it increasingly difficult for reindeer to find enough food in winter. While it normally always freezes in winter, there are now periods when it alternates between freezing and thawing. This causes the top layer of snow to melt, which later freezes again as ice. Reindeer cannot always break through the thick ice with their hooves, so they cannot always find enough food. Many reindeer are therefore herded together by the Sami in winter and fed at home.
Some good places to spot reindeer include Sönfjällets National Park (Sweden), Flatruet Vägen (Sweden), the Wilderness Route (Sweden), Dovrefjell National Park (Norway) and Rondane National Park (Norway).
