Our Journeys

Reindeer First – Why Animal Welfare Is at the Heart of Everything We Do

Reindeer First – Why Animal Welfare Is at the Heart of Everything We Do At Reindeer Journey, sustainability is much more than environmental responsibility. While protecting nature is important to us, animal welfare is also the issue closest to our hearts and the foundation of everything we do. As a real-life reindeer herding family, we live and work alongside our reindeer every day. Their wellbeing is not a separate project or policy—it is part of our daily lives, our values, and our responsibility as herders. This is one of the reasons why we have joined the Sustainable Travel Finland programme. The programme gives us an opportunity to further develop, document, and evaluate the responsible practices that have long guided our work. For us, one of the most important areas of sustainability is ensuring that tourism activities involving animals are always conducted ethically and with the animals’ welfare as the highest Read more

By Anne, ago

Reindeer are glowing in the dark – true or myth?

Every year, around 3500-5000 reindeer are killed in car accidents on Finnish roads. We reindeer herders have tried numerous ways to solve this problem. Every reindeer lost in traffic is not only a tragic event as such but also a financial loss for the reindeer owner. Although owners receive compensation for animals killed in accidents, it never fully reflects the true value of the lost animal. The most widespread trial with this topic has by far been “glowing in the dark” reindeer. That magical creature you can easily find by google. This trial inspired global media and it still regularly pops up especially in social media news, often accompanied by incorrect information. So, let me tell you how the story really went. On a dark February evening in 2014, I put on my winter work clothes, jumped into my boots, pulled my fur hat over my ears, grabbed a can Read more

By Anne, ago

Are Santa’s Reindeer Actually Female?

It’s that time of year again when Santa Claus and his reindeer start to attract international attention. I often get asked questions about this, naturally, since we live here in Santa’s hometown of Rovaniemi, sharing our lives with reindeer. One of the most common questions I get is about the gender of Santa’s reindeer. Surprised? Let me explain. When people find out that reindeer shed their antlers every year, many come to the same conclusion: Santa’s reindeer must be female. After all, male reindeer typically shed their antlers in the autumn, while females keep theirs through the winter and only shed them in spring, usually after giving birth in May. At first glance, that sounds like solid logic. Surely, it’s easy to imagine Santa’s sleigh being pulled by a team of strong reindeer girls. After all, females are often the hardest workers anyway (smiley). But the correct answer is: No, Read more

By Anne, ago

Summer vibes from reindeer life

In the summer, reindeer may appear matted. But don’t worry, they’re doing just fine! During the warmer months, the reindeer’s thick winter coat sheds to make way for lighter summer fur. This fur comes off in larger patches, occasionally revealing the smooth, sleek summer coat underneath. As the fur transitions, reindeer can sometimes look rather scruffy. This is completely normal. White reindeer, in particular, often resemble “plucked chickens” during June and July. By August, however, they have shed their old fur and are once again shiny and beautiful. Both male and female reindeer grow new antlers every year. During this time, the antlers grow at an astonishing rate of about two centimeters per day — the fastest-growing bone tissue in the world. In the summer, the growing antlers are soft, sensitive, and covered with a layer of skin. By August, the antlers have fully grown, and reindeer begin to rub Read more

By Anne, ago

The Hope of New life

The Hope of New Life Reindeer calving season has started. Newborn reindeer are running around the forests and wetlands. May is the month when most reindeer calves are born. In Sámi language May is called “reindeer calf month”. Our reindeer go near the large wetlands to give birth. There they have peace far away from human made hassle, and they like to eat plants growing in swamps, like bogbean. We are spying them from distance every now and then, trying to check everything is going well but still avoid any unnecessary disturbance. Today we spotted a few newborn cuties. They are too cute, aren’t they? Newborn reindeer calf weights about 5-7 kilos. Very soon after birth they can already run. And for sure, they love running. Sometimes it looks like the mothers have difficulties to follow these few days old rascals running and jumping around.   We have had a Read more

By Anne, ago

18.3. Finland is closed and our new reindeer adopters’ group is opened

Finland is closing its borders for a while, so our life in the reindeer farm will be calm and quiet for coming weeks. Sad it is. But we will survive. Hope you will too! This virus is like a scary movie, feeling a bit unreal and still happening in reality. All blessings to the worst-hit countries and all people suffering. Our thoughts are with you <3 We are in home quarantine, due to the fact, that our family’s oldest members are in their late 80s, and have some basic diseases. So, we have closed all our tours for at least two weeks, and will close them for a longer period if needed, when we see how this pandemic continues and eventually ends. Due to this unexpected situation, we have planned some new on-line services. Today we opened Reindeer Journey’s adopters’ group in Facebook. It is a private group for all Read more

By Anne, ago

“Put up the Lávvu”-hut day

Today the weather was finally suitable for pitching up our Lappish hut (Lávvu) into the forest. It will be a nice shelter, to enjoy packed lunch and warm drinks, especially in harsh weather. We got some helping hooves there as well. And Martta the Lapponian herder, of course, was supervising the building process all the way. Tomorrow we’ll “furnish” it and then it is ready for use. The Lávvu is near our reindeer feeding site, and this is the place we enjoy the Lappish snacks with our guests in coming months. You’re welcome to join us! 🙂

By Anne, ago

Ice Age in the Santa’s Reindeer Sleigh School!

Last two weeks we have had so weird weather! One day it’s raining and next it’s -25 of C. As you surely can imagine, everything is completely frozen. And reindeer are searching for better grazing grounds, going to places we would prefer them not to go. Life has been quite a mess. Luckily our reindeer are settled quite well on the herd, not walking so much anymore. We have started winter feeding already, and almost all herd has settled on to their winter grounds, near our feeding sites. Sleigh reindeer and other males are in their own stock, hanging together and taking it easy. We do not let the stags to go with does, because they do not have antlers this time of year, and might not get enough food in the same herd with does who have antlers and are ruling the world right now 🙂 Hopefully the weather Read more

By Anne, ago

Stribeback has a cute little brother

Today we got the most wanted visitor from the forest to our yard, when one of our breeding females came to show that she is doing great and has a beautiful chunky new baby boy. Cute, isn’t he?! This doe is the mom of Stribeback, one of our sleigh reindeers. So Stribeback has now a little brother growing and hopefully one day joining our Santa’s sleigh team.  They all look lot alike, having a blondish color, white nose and white marks around their eyes. Like mother, like sons. It’s always so exciting and simply wonderful to meet these new kids and see they are doing good. In coming winter this kid will probably start as a student in our sleigh school, following his big brother’s steps. 

By Anne, ago