Sweden

In Sweden all reindeer are privately owned and herded within the Sámi reindeer husbandry pastoral system. Reindeer husbandry is based on the immemorial rights of the Sámi to use land and water for their reindeer. Reindeer are freely ranged within the areas of the 51 reindeer herding communities (in Swedish: samebyar) from Idre in the south to Könkämä in the north and covers 55 % of Sweden’s land surface or 226 000 km2. A herding community is both a geographical area with districts borders, where the reindeer are kept, and an economic association for the reindeer herders that keep the reindeer within that area. All reindeer herding communities have their winter pastures in the boreal forest. In summer, 33 of the communities use pastures in the alpine mountain regions, while the others stay within the forest area all year around. Presently there are about 230 000 reindeer in the winter herds (after slaughter and before calving in the spring).

The number of reindeer are restricted to a maximum allowed number decided for each herding community by Swedish authorities. However, the actual number of reindeer depends both on the availability and quality of pastures and on the number of predators in the area. Apart from climate change causing severe snow conditions sometimes making winter pasture inaccessible, many herding communities are limited in their access to pastures by other land use, such as industrial forestry, renewable energy, mining, infrastructure, and recreational activities. Thus, to ensure reindeer survival many herders are forced to provide supplementary feed to their reindeer in winter.

The research on arctic ungulates in Sweden has a focus on reindeer and the production system of Sámi reindeer husbandry. In 1993 a professor chair in reindeer husbandry was established at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) with a special commission to establish a research community around reindeer and reindeer husbandry. Apart from research on reindeer biology, production and related environmental conditions, there is expanding research covering social science perspectives, governance, traditional and local knowledge, Sámi indigenous rights, herders’ health and wellbeing at several universities and research institutes in Sweden.

The professor in reindeer husbandry at SLU is editor-in-chief for the Rangifer journal (https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/index). Rangifer is the world's only scientific journal dealing exclusively with biology and management of arctic and northern ungulates, reindeer and caribou in particular. Rangifer publishes original research papers, review articles and brief communications in all themes and fields related to the animal reindeer/caribou and reindeer husbandry as culture and industry, and also papers on other northern ungulates. There is also the Rangifer Report that publishes population science reports and abstract books for reindeer husbandry conferences etc.

There is a small population of muskoxen in the southern part of the Swedish mountain range, in Härjedalen towards the border of Norway. The animals originally emigrated there from Dovrefjell in Norway in 1971. In the 1980s there were 34 animals, but the population has suffered from inbreeding and today it has declined to only about 10 animals (2022, https://artfakta.se/taxa/206042/information). There are some research efforts in Sweden dealing with the biology of muskoxen, mainly linked to their conservation and health and diseases.

Some entities involved in reindeer and reindeer husbandry research and management:

Reindeer husbandry research at SLU - https://www.slu.se/en/departments/department-of-applied-animal-science-and-welfare/research/reindeer-husbandry/

Swedish Veterinary Institute SVA https://www.sva.se/en/what-we-do/research-at-sva/research-projects-at-sva/?searchTerm=reindeer&sortOrder=

Sami and reindeer related research at SLU (in Swedish) https://www.slu.se/centrumbildningar-och-projekt/samiskrelaterad-forskning/

Research at Ájtte – principal museum of Sami culture, special museum for the mountain region, information centre for mountain tourism. https://www.ajtte.com/forskning-pa-ajtte/

Várdduo, Centre for Sami related research at Umeå University https://www.umu.se/en/vardduo-centre-for-sami-research/

Sami parliament, management of reindeer husbandry (in Swedish) https://www.sametinget.se/66807

National association for reindeer herding communities and Sami associations, Sámiid Riikkasearvi (SSR) (in Swedish) https://www.sapmi.se

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