Arctic ungulates in Norway include wild Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus), wild and semi-domesticated reindeer (R. t. tarandus), and muskox (Ovibos moschatus). Although a natural inhabitant before the last ice age, the current muskox population originates from translocations from Greenland after the second world war. It is regarded as an introduced species and is only distributed (through strict management) within a limited area in Dovre, Southern Norway. Little research has been done on the muskoxen. In contrast, the Svalbard reindeer, the semi-domesticated reindeer, and the wild mainland reindeer have all been subject to heavy annual monitoring and extensive research for several decades. Many institutions are involved. 

In Svalbard, several populations are monitored through population counts and mark-recapture programs lasting for up to three decades, with overall aims to study population dynamics, diet, movement ecology, and eco-evolutionary processes under rapid climate change. In both Northern and Southern (mainland) Norway, populations of semi-domestic reindeer are closely monitored and researched, often with a focus on population dynamics and management issues related to overgrazing, predators, and climate change. The mainland wild reindeer, currently distributed in isolated populations across some alpine regions of Southern Norway, have been undergoing detailed annual monitoring since the early 1990’s, also with extensive GPS-marking. 

Research has long focused on the challenges related to increasing loss and fragmentation of habitat due to human infrastructure and disturbance. The first known case of Chronic Wasting Disease (a lethal prion disease) in Rangifer (and in Europe in general) was detected in the Nordfjella population in 2016, with additional later cases, including in Hardangervidda. This has led to major mitigation measures, including local population eradication and strong population reductions, to prevent further spread. No new cases have been detected since 2021, despite thorough monitoring and sampling of all hunted adult individuals. 

Recently, research on the wild reindeer is increasingly focusing on potential causes and consequences of negative trends in body condition and vital rates, and changes in population dynamics and population genetics. The latter is particularly relevant in the light of increasing barriers as well as challenges related to genetic introgression of semi-domesticated reindeer. Less than half of the populations defined by management as “wild reindeer” are of genetically wild origin, and many of these are also a genetic mix, due to introgression.