Abstract 290 – Mitigation and compensation of brown bear predation on semi-domestic reindeer in Scandinavia

Ole Gunnar Støen, Peter Andersson, Peter Segerström, Jonas Kindberg

The brown bear population in Scandinavia has tripled over the last three decades. However,
due to hunting, bears remain classified as near-threatened (NT) in Sweden and endangered
(EN) in Norway. Sámi reindeer husbandry is essential to Sámi culture in Scandinavia, and
compensation is provided for reindeer losses. Due to the increased bear population, the extent
of this compensation is disputed, prompting both countries to revise the compensation system.
Amidst the ongoing controversy, there is a lack of data on bear predation on reindeer.
With funding from the governments of both countries and the Sámi Parliament in Sweden, we
initiated a unique collaborative research project with three Sámi reindeer herding communities
in Sweden to quantify the annual brown bear kill rate on reindeer.
We monitored > 60 GPS-collared bears and > 2500 adult female reindeer over a span of 9 years.
Using proximity collars and a ‘virtual fence,’ the GPS collars tracked the bear's position every 1
or 5 minutes as they traversed reindeer calving grounds. Field teams, consisting of a bear
scientist and a Sámi reindeer herder, systematically visited all locations where bears spent more
than 3 or 10 minutes. This allowed the teams to identify freshly killed reindeer carcasses,
enabling a precise assessment of kill rates for both calves and adult reindeer.
Brown bears primarily targeted reindeer calves, especially during the peak of calving. The
estimated kill rate of 0.3-0.5 calves per day during calving in May to mid-June suggests that
brown bears might account for most of the annual calf losses in the reindeer herding districts.
Adult reindeer were infrequently preyed upon, with a rate one-tenth of that of calves. After
mid-July, when berries become abundant, bear predation on reindeer ceased.
Our result indicates effectiveness of localized mitigation strategies, such as increased hunting
quotas within confined calving grounds or selectively culling during calving.