reindeer - The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd

15th May 202620th May 2026

Free – range season of 2026 comes to an end…

Since the first week of January, our wonderful herd of reindeer have been out free – ranging the mountains. Our females and smaller male calves from last Spring roamed the hills here in the Cairngorms, while our males, bigger male calves and their mums free roamed the hills not too far from our farm. Free – range season is a chance for all our reindeer to enjoy the good grazing and open plains of the sub-arctic tundra we find ourselves in here, and to grab a well earned rest after our busy Christmas season.

Free – ranging season provides the most stunning views of the reindeer with the backdrop of the beautiful Cairngorm mountains.

It’s also a fantastic time of year for us herders, getting to move the reindeer around the hills every morning, and take guests out to see them in their natural habitat with no fences. So, as free – range season draws to a close for 2026, it’s time to look back on our herders favorite moments.

Can you spot the herder amongst the herd?…

Lotti

Looking back over the last few months, one morning fetching the reindeer immediately sprung to mind as a highlight. To set the scene, the previous day, Andi and I had fetched the reindeer for the morning visit, and both agreed that the reindeer had been slower and more difficult to herd than either of us had EVER seen! Fast forward to the following day, I was feeling tired and whilst the morning walk out to find the reindeer is usually my favourite job, after the day before I was quite happy to do a hill trip instead. But alas, it was not meant to be. As it turned out Daisy was the only herder with enough beans to volunteer to walk out to find the reindeer. At this time of year it takes two of us, one at the front and one at the back, so reluctantly I joined her.

Poor Daisy had to cope with a distinct lack of enthusiasm from me on the walk out which finished with an uphill, off path trudge through the snow. When we reached the top of the hill though, we were greeted with the most wonderful sight, the herd on a snowy hillside with the beautiful mountains of the Cairngorm’s behind them. I have lived and worked here for a wee while, but a view like this still has the ability to take my breath away – I hope that never changes.

Of course, on that day the reindeer were good as gold, and we had the most wonderful time walking them in. I often find that the days when I’m feeling less joie de vivre than usual are the days that the reindeer and the mountains really show off and have the ability to completely change my mood. I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face for the rest of the day!

Orinoco leading the herd across the snowy hillside.

Amy

My favorite day from this winter free range was collecting the reindeer at the start of March. Myself and Hen had walked out to where the reindeer where and it was decided that I would be the person that would walk infront of the reindeer and lure them to the visit spot, whilst Hen would stay at the back of the herd and make sure that we didn’t leave any stragglers behind. At the front I could see that lovely Vienna was very determinedly trudging up the hill behind me, along with the sweetheart that is Ryvita, plus Christie and Cheer had taken a small group of reindeer on a questionable detour into a snowy crevice and Bordeaux was walking off very purposefully in the completely wrong direction. Given Bordeaux’s nature, it is very unusual for her to decide that she isn’t going to follow the herd, so I sat back for a brief second to see how things were going to play out and Bordeaux continued in the direction she was heading- away from myself.

Eventually, I rustled the white bag of hand-feed I was carrying to see if I could catch her attention and then it became evident that Bordeaux was confused about what direction I was going in. You could quite literally see in her face the moment she realised where I was and that I wasn’t in the direction she was expecting. I also loved the urgency she had when she walked off in the wrong direction, there was so much hope that just over the skyline she would be able to snack on some yummy handfood.

Whilst we were waiting for Bordeaux, Vienna is trying to persuade me to give up some hand feed.

Hen

My memory links directly to Amy’s, as I trailed along at the back of the herd keeping them moving in the right direction, like a sheepdog. Unfortunately my short stumpy legs cannot go uphill nearly as fast as a reindeer – or downhill, to be honest – so this role is often somewhat unneccessary when they are moving well as I’m struggling to keep up and can’t do much about stopping them going in the wrong direction anyway. On this particular day the herd had been quite hard work already, really preferring to stay put grazing, but once they were finally moving I clocked Bordeaux heading off in the wrong direction, leading multiple other reindeer with her. We were crossing a really rocky bit of ground and Amy was partway down the hill the other side already, and I remember yelling something rude at Bordeaux… Perhaps she realised at that point she was going the wrong way, or perhaps she’s well-versed in my swearing, but a minute or two later she appeared back in sight, now heading the right way…

I’m not sure this is necessarily my favourite memory, but it’s the one springing to mind right now, and the morning is one I actually have a photo from (although involving the random dog-leg of Bordeaux’s route).

Andi

My highlight of this year’s free-range season was fetching the herd from high on the mountain in a white-out, and having to use a compass bearing to navigate our way down out of the cloud – the first time in my 15 years of herding that I’ve had to rely on a compass whilst leading the herd! You will find out more about that experience in a few months time… keep following the blog!

The cows battling the high winds and snow gusts, protecting their calves in the harsh conditions.

Daisy

One of my most memorable moments from my first free-range season has to be the wild weather Saturday of moving reindeer in a blizzard! The day had started with hardly any clouds and blue skies when I first dropped Cam and Sheena off to move the reindeer that morning. But, by the time Andi, Emm and I set off for the Hill Trip, a white out blizzard had struck. I only managed to locate Cam and Sheena thanks to their bright waterproofs! As I waited for Andi, Emm and the Hill Trip guests enough snow had settled against my ski googles that I could hardly see past Juniper stood next to me. The snow was quite short lived though and the guests had the most amazing blue skies and calm breeze with a fresh layer of snow settled on the reindeer for their trip. The hills looked amazing!

After the guests had gone we had the task of moving the reindeer across flats, jump a burn, over the road, and up onto a new set of hills. We set off as the mornings blizzard returned and the winds picked up! It was my second go of leading the reindeer, and seemed quite daunting given the lack of visibility. But the combination of Andi’s hand signals from the back of the herd and Ryvita leading the charge and following my calls, meant we successfully crossed the burn and got them up onto the road. With a cluster of cars parked up in the middle of the road, everyone hanging out their windows to record the reindeer – the entire female herd of 73 steadily came into view as they ran across the road and up onto the bank of the next hill in a quick single file. I never get over how fantastic it is to see the reindeer rush over the road, and how excited all of the passing drivers are, but with the snow falling and having just herded them through a blizzard – it was pure magic. From there it was up onto the flat of the next hill and to give the reindeer some well deserved food, and then back to the centre for a hot cup of tea (and several custard creams)!

Chilling with Ryvita before the blizzard returned.

Maisy

My favourite moment in this winter free range was when Cam and I went out to fetch reindeer for the morning visit at the start of April. It was a stunner of a day with most of the snow gone which was meant to make it easy walking, however Cam decided to take us through deap heather and across a large river from the snow melt. Thank god I had my big wellies on! We headed along then up to where we thought the reindeer were. We arrived for where we last spied the herd, but they were nowhere to be seen. We had lost our 73 reindeer! I thought they had gone back the way we came, but Cam said that they probably carried on round the side of the hill. I suggested for us to split up to cover more area, so off we went in oposite directions with our walkie talkies turned on. All I could hear as I was walking back round the direction we came from was silence from Cams end. I was thinking about heading back and looking else where until I saw them! I was right. Cam was wrong… The reindeer had gone the way we wanted them to. Cam made us walk straight past them! Once Cam evantually caught me up with the reindeer (he took ages), I lead the herd up towards the visit spot (this was actually my first time leading reindeer on the free range!). Some were more enthusiastic than others to follow. We made it to the spot and awaited for Daisy’s arrival in the sun (which took longer than expected as she also got lost… what can you do?).

Can you spot Cam miles in the distance?…

Cameron

Erm… That’s not how I remember it!

Editor’s Note: This is all we could get out of Cam for his offical response.

Fiona

Being an old timer when it comes to reindeer herding I often end up leading the herd in for their morning feed rather than being the sheep dog at the back to keep them moving. This year we had a few newbies herders join our team and this was their first winter fetching reindeer so I took this on board and mostly lead the herd, even though everyone’s favourite job is at the back. At the back you just get to hang out, at a sensible pace and you don’t have to choose the route so when given the choice this is where most herders would want to be. Mid March I went out with Amy (another old timer) and this time I didn’t give her the choice, I opted for following along at the back. It was a glorious day, blue skies, sunshine and snow… Just perfect! I spent most of the time taking videos and photo’s and sending them to everyone I knew working an office job that day boasting about my morning. It’s days like this that make you forget about the wet, windy and claggy days that end up being a total mission and therefore restoring your faith in Scottish winters!

Kate

Free-range season is a real mix. The weather can be truly awful, and on days the reindeer are feeling stubborn, moving them can be a long and difficult slog. But sometimes, you get a bluebird day when the sun is out and the reindeer are hungry and cooperative, and these are some of my favourite mornings throughout the whole year. Me and ‘The Aisies’ (that’s Daisy and Maisy) headed out on a lovely blue-sky day in March to move the herd. We wouldn’t be returning by the same path, so Cam kindly dropped the morning feed at our destination (thanks, Cam!). We could see him from a distance, making his way to drop the bag. “He looks like a tick!” Daisy said. I then had to explain to her how perspective works and that things look smaller at a distance… Walking out without a heavy bag always nice. We found the herd at the crest of the hill, a few were up and picking through the snow to graze, but most were dozing in the sunshine. They were initially slow to get going, and split into two groups which can make things difficult, but having three herders is a luxury and made it much easier to keep the herd moving in the right direction. I led, the Aisies herded at the back, and we skirted around the slopes easily enough, until we hit some big snow patches and the reindeer started to pick up speed. Eventually, Emmental decided she knew exactly where we were going and passed us. The herd followed, and most of them rushed over the snow to gather ahead, where the feed was waiting. I waited for Daisy and Maisy to catch up and we enjoyed having the last few minutes of the walk to just enjoy the sunshine and chat.

A lot of our most memorable days on the free-range are the big adventures, when it’s difficult, and you feel exhausted but accomplished at the end of it, but I always love the calm mornings, when things are easy, the sun is out, and you have enough time to stop for a moment and appreciate the reindeer and the incredible place we live.

Emmental and her son, Oro, leading the herd, 7th March 2026

Sheena

I think we all love heading out to look for reindeer in the morning when they are free ranging on the high slopes of Cairngorm. My most memorable walk out this year was with Cameron, just at the end of winter start of spring. Our biggest challenge was what to wear. The weather was sunny one minute and then full on winter blizzard… So a full set of winter waterproofs, gloves, hats, hoods and last minute went back for ski goggles! We had a long walk and luckily we spotted them just before the weather changed into a white out snow storm. Goggles on time.

We had several challenging stream crossings, the first one had a big snow drift over it and was very dodgy spring soft snow, so we went for a crossing area up stream, with a good helping hand from Cameron when I jumped over, so no wet boots for me. After locating the reindeer Cameron lead the way as our plan was to move the reindeer to an area easier for our visitors on the hill trip, it took 30 mins in white out condition. Just as we got near our Hill Trip spot, we saw a hill walker on the hill path who unfortunately had a very noisey dog and, two barks later the reindeer turned on their hoofs and headed back up the hill! Luckily the sun came out, blue sky and we caught up with the herd not too much higher and changed our visit location as the weather was now sunny. It was now a safe option for our visitors. Cameron and I had a good work out and I wish I had a step counter that day – it would have been miles.

You may have caught the wonderful video of Sheena and our lovely Holy Moley post blizzard hike! If not you can watch it on our facebook page here.

Alicia

March has been my first taste of the free-range season, and thus has been host to many small ‘firsts’ for me! First time leading free-range Hill Trips, first time seeing the girls out in the mountains (leading them off the road in December doesn’t count!), first time out with radios trying to bring the girls to a nice spot for the Hill Trip in the mornings…

My favourite memory from this season was also my most trying morning. Fiona and I hiked out in the morning, braving blue skies but 30+ mph winds (which is quite a lot when you’re carrying a lot of reindeer feed on your back!). The cows and calves were happily resting in a little gully when we came upon them, and they were very much not in the mood for moving on! I was the ‘sheep-dog’ at the back of the herd trying to encourage some rather stubborn lassies on from the nice patches of lichen they had found, all the while unsuccessfully dodging boggy sections of ground. After finding a safe way to cross the river, I gave a quick celebratory ‘Yes!’, before promptly falling into a bog on my next step…

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Hope you enjoyed all our favourite moments from 2026, and here’s to free – range season 2027!

The Cairngorm Reindeer Herders

8th May 20263rd May 2026

Volunteer Blog: Emm’s Visit – October 2025 (Part 2)

Time for part two of Emm’s wonderful blog, picking up where we left off last time – a broken Brenda and reindeer to herd!…

The next day I helped Lotti and Ruth walk the calves Oro and Flamenco around Glennmore. Akubra and Kulfi were the adult reindeer who came with us. I walked in front to make sure there were no dogs coming as reindeer are scared of dogs. They think that they are wolves. I also picked up the reindeer poo too if they went to the toilet.

Daisy and I did a very wet, windy and cold Hill Trip. We took the visitors to the Hill Trip spot but the reindeer were high near the ridge and were not coming down. So Daisy went up to encourage them down while I did the hand feed talk to the visitors and talked to them about reindeer facts and told them their names and naming themes. We then were able to feed the reindeer when they had come down with Daisy. We were splitting Sundae off because she is in season. I stayed with Sundae for most of the Hill Trip to keep an eye on her.

After the Hill Trip, I met Ruth and Lotti by the Sugar Bowl carpark and helped take Akubra, Kulfi and 2 calves called Disco and Foxtrot up to the hill enclosure. We were doing a Paddock swap as Disco and Foxtrot had finished their calf training school.

Emm walking Akubra and Foxtrot back to the hill enclosure.

I got very wet and soggy and had water in my wellies. It was like a loch in my wellies. Lol.

A very soggy team of herders! Ruth, Emm, Daisy and Lotti, still smiling despite the miserable weather.

Another day up on the hill, Vienna was looking miserable and sad and she kept going away from the other reindeer. So we put her in the shed area and pen with a friend and kept an eye on her and checking her temperature. The vet came to check her and did some treatments to see if they helped her and to see if it made her feel better. Along with Ruth I joined Daisy and Kate near the end of the Hill Trip. We needed to take Ceilidh’s temperature. We couldn’t catch her so Kate led Glacée, Ceilidh’s mum, and with Ruth I herded Ceilidh from behind to a smaller bit of the enclosure called the temporary corral. Daisy managed to catch Ceilidh to find she did have a temperature so Daisy injected Ceilidh to bring it down. Me and Kate took Glacée and Ceilidh to the shed to keep an eye on Ceilidh. Kate led them and I herded behind.

Glacée and a much brighter Ceilidh after spending some time being cared for by the herders.

The inside jobs I did were sweeping and hoovering around the Reindeer Centre. I also mopped the floor downstairs. I washed the wellies and put them up to dry then away later. I put a sticky label with the reindeer herds news on the back of each newsletter photo. I also put the newsletter and the newsletter photo into envelopes. I put the 1^st year adopt packs together and I also did some shredding. I did feed mixing and hand feed mixing too, poo picking in the Paddocks and also let the reindeer through into their daytime Paddock area for their breakfast. In the evening I put them to bed and give them their tea in the night time Paddock area. I also got taught how to lock the Reindeer Centre’s carpark and swept the steps outside the Reindeer Centre, behind the lift and outside the front.

It is lovely meeting the visitors too on the Hill Trips. It is lovely seeing their reactions when they are amongst the reindeer and when they get to hand feed a reindeer. On most of the Hill Trips, I did the hand feed talk and on one of them I did the introduction talk. I also got to see my adopted reindeer Scully and Zoom while visiting which was fantastic. I met Scully’s calf called Rumba which I was very excited about.

Emm taking a selfie with the lovely Scully and Rumba.

Away from the visitors and Hill Trips and I was able to enjoy spending time with the herders. While I was there they went on a zipwire trek (run by local company G2 Outdoor) on one of the dark evenings and I was very lucky to be invited to join them. It was very exciting. When you went in, a pretend big spider suddenly came down on you and there was a ghost in the toilet. It had lights and Halloween things when you went around. You went over rivers and through trees. You had to do a torch flash saying the next person can go. I had a race with Andi at the end and I went so fast. I really enjoyed myself. It was such great fun. Thank you ever so much everyone for letting me come.

A night of zipping through the trees for the reindeer herders! All smiles from Andi, Emm, Sheena, Daisy, Lotti, Kate, Cameron, and Amy.

On another evening, my reindeer herding friends came around to our holiday cottage for a curry night which was great fun. My Dad and Mum had made lots of curry and we ate and chilled out and I gave them a tour of the holiday cottage. Sheena had brought around a great spider target game which we played. The spiders were sticky and they ended up hanging of the ceiling and one even dropped into Ruth’s curry. Lol.

A wonderful evening of delicious food, great company, and sticky spiders!

Another day I went on a lovely walk with Lotti by Pityoulish Loch and we had cups of tea and sat and chilled out on the pontoon and watched the wildlife. It was a lovely spot.

Lotti and Emm enjoying a lovely walk wildlife spotting.

I met Daisy who works at the Reindeer Centre and her lovely dog Echo who is very clever and we went on a lovely walk to Green Loch and then up through the trees at the back of the Reindeer Centre. I also met Fiona’s and Joe’s lovely puppy called Sanna who is very cute and I also met Alicia who works part time at the Reindeer Centre.

Echo teaching Sanna how to sneak up on the herders and steal the reindeer food!

It was so lovely to spend my spare time with such special friends doing things we all enjoyed. I can’t wait to go back in March 2026. I am counting down to the day. I am so excited.

Emm

1st May 202623rd February 2026

Volunteer Blog: Emm’s Visit – October 2025 (Part 1)

In this latest blog I would like to share some memories from my visit in October 2025. It was very exciting as the new reindeer exhibition was open to visitors with lots of interactive things, videos, information and photo displays. It is so brilliant. The visitors will learn lots of things about reindeer and the history of the herd.

Emm is back, and we’re so thrilled! Emm, Lotti, Amy, and Jig all posing for a team photo!

On my first morning, I walked the calves around Glenmore with EK and Cameron. The calves this year (born in spring 2025) are named after types of dances so I had a lot of fun learning all their names. We walked Ballet and Polka with 2 adult reindeer.

Emm and EK walking Ballet and Polka during calf training.

We were getting them used to everyday things like people, traffic, being led and being handled. Afterwards, Cameron showed me his shed he had built for the reindeer poo bags so they don’t get wet and it is named the poo shed, and it is really good.

There were some new things in the Paddocks. The Santa’s bothy was being built by Alex and Cameron, and they were hoping it would be ready for Christmas. There was also an extended area for the reindeer in their daytime paddock area in the trees.

Jimmy the bull, who had been over on Silvermount in the hill enclosure with his group of girls, had finished his job with them so one morning Lotti, Ben and Cameron led him off the hill as he was going to go back to Tilly’s farm. We were also taking Gazelle off the hill to go back to the farm that morning too.

Boogie relaxing with some of our older boys.

I led Gazelle off the hill to Brenda (the truck we transport reindeer in). Ruth and I went to find Vienna one of Iskrem’s girls as they had been moved into a different part of the hill enclosure and she had become separated from them. Iskrem is a very calm bull. We found Vienna and we had to herd her up the hill, as she didn’t want to be caught, to join Iskrem and his girls. Then we moved them as a group to a different part of the hill enclosure. We were very lucky that day as we saw 6 Black Grouse lekking.

Our hill enclsoure isn’t just home to reindeer.

The day after, I went with Kate, Ruth and Daisy back to Silvermount in the hill enclosure so we could move Jimmy’s girls to where they were meant to be next. Nuii and Fab were missing so Kate went to look for them. We let a few of them out to be with the main herd in the east enclosure in the hill enclosure and I helped Daisy and Ruth take 5 reindeer across the hill enclosure from Silvermount to a different part of the hill enclosure, as they were going to go out onto the free-range soon. I led Orinoco and Suebi. Meanwhile Kate had found Nuii and Fab and brought them back to join the group.

Emm leading Orinoco and Suebi across the hill enclosure.

One day, the free-ranging reindeer were put in a part of the hill enclosure for a few hours so Amy could take Alba off the free-range, who needed to come into the enclosure for a short while.

Meanwhile Kate had gone to find 4 missing reindeer in the hill enclosure as they hadn’t turned up for breakfast or for the 2 Hill Trips and had been missing for the day. They were Pinto and her calf Quickstep and Borlotti and her calf Morris. Morris is such lovely natured and laid-back calf and is pure white meaning he is leucistic. Like some leucistic animals, Morris is deaf.

I helped Amy put the free-range reindeer back out. We took them to the top ridge on the free range, Amy led and I was at the back. Then we went to help Kate who had found the 4 reindeer on Silvermount in the hill enclosure. Pinto had found a bag of handfeed and was eating out of the bag when Kate found them. We led Pinto and Borlotti on halters and their calves followed and I helped Amy herd at the back. We led them across the hill enclosure and took them to the shed to check them out and take their temperatures as reindeer being away from the herd might mean they are ill. Whilst out leading them we were lucky enough to see a mountain hare.

One morning, the reindeer were slow coming down for breakfast in the hill enclosure. Some of the herd were with us and the rest were on Silvermount. As I helped Ruth call them down, Andi went up and herded them down from the top. We were then able to get them in position for the later Hill Trip.

Busby leading the way along the board walk ready for the days Hill Trip.

Unfortunately on our way back down at the end of the day Brenda broke down near the Sugar Bowl car park. The next day, she was towed away to be fixed, a sad sight!

Stay tuned for part two of Emm’s visit in October!

Emm

10th April 20267th April 2026

Reindeer Around the World: The Svalbard Reindeer

Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus

A wonderful past blog written by herder Hen detailing how the species Rangifer tarandus (more commonly known as reindeer) is broken down into seven different subspecies, got me thinking that I didn’t know too much about these differences. What adaptations did each subspecies have to equip them for their differing environments? I decided to start my research with the Svalbard reindeer – the smallest of all the reindeer and only found within the islands of Svalbard.

It is estimated that Svalbard reindeer became isolated from other populations of reindeer around 10,000 years ago when the vast ice sheet covering the Barents Sea melted as the earth warmed after the last ice age. Svalbard then became cut off from mainland Europe, effectively trapping any land mammals.

So, what happened to them 10,000 years ago to equip them with living on an open, isolated, arctic tundra landscape? Unlike other subspecies of reindeer, the Svalbard population dropped its need to migrate, only needing to cover short distances on a regular basis, remaining on mountain ridges and plateaus – continuously exposed to the elements. They also lacked forests for cover and fed primarily on short-growing lichens and vegetation.

The home of the Svalbard reindeer – open plains and Arctic mountains.

Apart from the occasional polar bear… the Svalbard reindeer also doesn’t have the worries that other subspecies have regarding predators. Due to these changes in their food chain and environment, the Svalbard reindeer evolved to have far shorter legs than the other subspecies. They could still reach a maximum speed of 60 to 80km/h but didn’t require the longer legs of other reindeer – so to conserve body heat, their legs became shorter.

*Body heat is lost through a reindeer’s legs due to less fat and blood vessels near to the surface of the skin, so if you don’t need to migrate – grow shorter legs and stay warm!*

Svalbard reindeer running, perfectly displaying how disproportionate their bodies are to their small heads and legs. Perfectly adapted to an environment that doesn’t require movement, but encourages good fat reserves. (Photo credit: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen)

Another unique adaptation to the Svalbard reindeer is their difference in circadian rhythm to other subspecies of reindeer. Svalbard has an extremely reduced day length in winter months. There are between 100 to 150 days per year during which there is no light and the sun does not rise above the horizon. Research has concluded that the Svalbard reindeer has a mutation in a gene associated with maintaining circadian rhythm, allowing their bodies to cope with lack of sunlight (vitamin D etc.). Another change in the genetic make up of this subspecies in comparison to the others, is a change in the genes associated with eye/ optic nerve development – allowing their eyes to adapt to winter conditions.

Svalbard reindeer have dark eyes, that like other subspecies are able to see into the shorter end of the light spectrum. This allows them to use UV light during twilight periods of the year to see their general surroundings – identifying food sources, other forms of life, etc.

Their diet is very similar to other subspecies of reindeer, feeding on low growing vegetation found along ridges, plateaus and mountain slopes. Feeding to excess on healthy vegetation during summer and then relying on fat reserves and limited grazing during winter when vegetation is limited, but lichen can be found in abundance. The Svalbard population is more of a solitary subspecies than the typical social herd structure of other populations of reindeer. They are often only found in groups of three to five and so over grazing is not as much of a concern in a smaller region, such as Svalbard. However, despite this, starvation is the most common cause of death due to worn teeth grazing on sparse vegetation growing amongst rocky landscapes, or from food frozen into ice pastures.

*Svalbard reindeer grazing on vegetation with areas of ice pasture seen behind them.*

Pick out the areas of low quality grazing amongst the rocks.

Despite their challenges and differences, one thing is for sure… the Svalbard reindeer are one darn cute animal!

*Trying to think of something professional to say here, but all I can think is… STOP IT!*

Okay, no more cute photos! I’ll leave it there until next time when we look at the cool adaptions of another subspecies of the Rangifer tarandus.

Daisy

More reading:
https://polar-latitudes.com/discover/wildlife/svalbard-reindeer/
https://www.americanscientist.org/article/the-eurasian-arctic-during-the-last-ice-age
https://www.aurora-expeditions.com/eu/wildlife/arctic/mammals/svalbard-reindeer
https://academic.oup.com/gbe/article/17/9/evaf160/8233719
https://npolar.no/en/species/svalbard-reindeer/#3

20th March 202618th February 2026

Cheer!

I thought I would write a blog to celebrate Cheer the reindeer.

She has a very distinctive white patchy face and often reindeer with white noses or faces stand out from the herd and get lots of attention. But in general I would say Cheer has avoided the spot-light for most of her life as naturally she is quite shy around people, preferring to keep her distance, and she’s not super dominant towards other reindeer either. On Hill Trips she’ll often be more in the distance and definitely not muscling her way in for the hand feed amongst the greediest of reindeer.

Cheer in September 2021 looking beautiful.

Cheer will turn 14 in the spring so definitely falls into the ‘old girl’ category and has been retired from breeding after her last calf was born in 2024. This means she now can spend the vast majority of her year out free ranging enjoying a peaceful life.

I don’t really remember encountering Cheer when I first came to be a herder for around 10 months in 2017 – 2018 (sorry, Cheer!). However, when I returned to reindeer herding in 2021 I got to know her much better. She had a calf in 2022 (Choc-ice), 2023 (Shannon) and 2024 (Chai) which meant Cheer spent a bit more time in our hill enclosure (as opposed to free ranging out in the mountains) during the calving season in the spring and again in the autumn so she was around more.

I’ve now got a real soft spot for her. She is greedy and does love feeding from the hand feed bag but only if there’s no pushy reindeer around and she’s confident that we herders don’t want to ‘do anything’ to her! Then her shy and suspicious nature kicks in.

So here’s just lots of photos of her, and her offspring, taken over the past few years. Enjoy.

2021

December 2021 – Cheer is back out free ranging and curious to know what’s in the feed bag!

2022

2023

2024

Cheer (and Chai just behind) in December 2024. Clearly not feeling shy today!

2025

Chai and Cheer in August 2025 – the pair have remained bonded and are often seen together whilst out free ranging.

I bumped into Chai and Cheer again in September 2025, free ranging together, but today Cheer was feeling suspicious of me! and perfectly happy to be left in peace.

Choc-ice stripping the velvet from his antlers in September 2025. He was one of our main breeding bulls in the rut the following month, so fingers crossed he’ll have passed on his and Cheer’s genes to the next generation of reindeer calves, greatly expanding Cheer’s dynasty.

Chai enjoying the snow in November 2025.

Ruth

13th March 20268th March 2026

Lichen – what is it and why does it taste good? If you’re a reindeer anyway…

“Lichen, any of about 15,000 species of plant-like organisms that consist of a symbiotic association of algae (usually green) or cyanobacteria and fungi (mostly ascomycetes and basidiomycetes)” (Britannica, 2025). Now that’s a lot of big words and what do they actually mean? What really is a ‘symbiotic association of algae’? And why is lichen so important for reindeer?

Lichen (AKA reindeer moss). Photo by Evelyn Simak

Let’s look at the bigger picture to start. Cast your minds to the vast open landscape that makes up a subarctic tundra ecosystem. Excitingly enough, we can talk about our very own Cairngorm mountains for this, as our reindeer live in the only ecosystem of its kind in the UK.

*The Cairngorm reindeer free roaming in the mountains.*

A subarctic tundra ecosystem falls south of the Arctic Circle line and includes treeless habitats of permafrost and generally short flora growing seasons due to harsh weather and low temperatures. It can include fragmented plant growth, like rocky mountainous peaks with scatterings of low growing vegetation including mosses, grasses, dwarfed shrubs, and lichens.

These harsh conditions mean that lichen do not have to compete for space or light with other forms of vegetation, enabling the lichen to grow in blankets across mountain plateaus. Due to their unique differences to other plant life, they are also able to grow on exposed rocks and as part of biological soil crusts. These soil crusts are found in cold and dry areas and make up the majority of all living ground cover in these almost uninhabitable places. The crusts are made of living material that sit on the top few millimetres of ground, meaning larger plants are unable to root and grow due to the ground conditions.

So that brings us back to our opening question, what is a symbiotic association of algae? What is lichen? From what we understand of lichen, it is a community of living organisms from both the fungi and the algae family. The fungi provide the water and minerals, as well as giving the lichen its structure, and the algae provides the food in the relationship, through photosynthesis. This happy partnership allows the lichen to grow and cope with harsh conditions that a normal single organism may not be able to thrive in.

Now let’s add the reindeer into the mix! Reindeer rely heavily on lichen, consuming so much that it can make up to 70% of their annual food intake. This is because those harsh landscapes we spoke about earlier have very little choice available for the reindeer, but they can always rely on the lichen to grow all year round. Reindeer even have specialised gut floras to be able to properly digest the carbohydrates lichen contains.

*Winter lichen for our free ranging reindeer.*

Maybe it’s not that it tastes good then, maybe it’s because they have little other choice?…

But if you asked our reindeer, they would tell you it’s the best thing on the menu!

Mocha with a bit of lichen hanging from her bottom lip!

Daisy

Resources to learn more:

https://www.britannica.com/science/reindeer-lichen https://www.britannica.com/science/biological-soil-crust https://britishlichensociety.org.uk/learning/what-is-a-lichen

6th March 20269th February 2026

A Shopful of Delights

Our beautiful new shop – packed-full of lots of wonderful reindeer related goodies.

Since moving into our shiny new Centre, we’ve had a brand new shop space to play with. It may look a little different to our very rustic, wood clad shop of old, but we’ve kept a few nods to the old style.

Our rule-of-thumb with a pretty small space is that any product we sell has to feature reindeer (with the odd bending of the rule…) and we try to find as many unique/local products as possible.

Herder Fiona crafts with naturally cast antler to make beautiful jewellery, and there is often bespoke artwork by herders Kate, Ruth and Sheena .

Some of Fiona’s jewellery, with sections of real antler, along with a few of Kate’s needle-felted reindeer.

I’ve been particularly excited to find space to stock a much bigger range of books, the best antidote to too much screen time!

Our reindeer library – something for everyone – children and adults.

Look at this beautiful centrepiece, created from one of Sherlock’s antlers and an old whisky barrel!

One of Sherlock’s antlers is proudly displayed in the centre of the shop – adorned with lots of wonderful items.

If you aren’t planning a visit soon, you will find most of our products online on our shop at https://store.cairngormreindeer.co.uk/ We aren’t able to list more unique products like Ruth’s lino prints and Sheena’s art, so if there is something that you’d like that’s not on there then do drop us an email and we can show you what is currently available and send through a payment link.

If you live in the EU, unfortunately we can’t post to you due to legislation, but elsewhere in the world we can create a custom order if you email to let us know what you’d like and your address.

Andi

27th February 202627th February 2026

Photo Blog: February 2026

February is the month that we ease ourselves back into Hill Trips again after being closed for a month. From mid-January to mid-February, we are trying to catch up with general maintenance and into February prepare for being open to the public again. The start of the month consisted of feeding reindeer, ensuring we are prepared for opening and we also spared some time to visit one of the Lynx reintroductions drop in’s that have been happening in the area.

The 7^th of February was our first day open to the public. It is always a bit of a daunting thought, and you’re left hoping that you remember how to talk about reindeer and that you have hopefully remembered everything that needs done first thing in the morning. But these anxious thoughts were soon squashed by our first Hill Trip of the season, the weather was good and how to be a public facing reindeer herder came flooding back!

The weather at this time of the year can be challenging and trying to take a picture that encompasses how brutal the weather is on a hill trip is hard. Daisy and I did a Hill Trip on the 11^th, and the conditions were rather wintery. The met office report for the day told us that the max wind gust at Base Station was to be 26 MPH, our Hill Trip that day was lower than Base Station and the wind was enough to knock you off balance, so I feel it may have been a little stronger than that! I do love the variation that we get in weather as it makes the good weather days feel special.

4th of February: Left to Right- Suebi, Orinocco, Bolero, Ceilidh and Glacée on a very blustery trip out to feed the herd before we begin Hill Trips again.

5th of February: Ruth and Lotti enjoying biscuits whilst completing their Lynx questionaires.

7th of February: Myself, Kate and Maisy with Ryvita after the first Hill Trip of the new season.

8th of February: Trilby leading the herd in for our morning Hill Trip with Disco on her left, Tango and then Pip.

11th of February: On the walk out to the reindeer myself and Cameron noticed some unusual prints in the snow… Possibly Badger prints?

11th of February: Cameron teaching his merry band of calves bad habits

11th of February: Above is Beautiful Solero. This was the first day of good weather we had seen in a while, so plenty of pictures were taken!

15th of February: Another mission to collect the reindeer before our 11 am Hill Trip. In the fore ground (left-right) we have Dante, Disco and Bolero.

18th of February: The first day of the season where we had to cancel the Hill Trip due to the weather. Sanna, Fraoch and myself agree that it was the best call!

19th of February: Daisy clinging on for her life on a very windy walk out to collect the reindeer in the morning.

22nd of February: Vienna, often found snooping around us herders looking for extra food.

25th of February: Polka leading the herd in before our Hill Trip.

Amy

20th February 202616th February 2026

Photo Blog: Reindeer in the snow

Breaking trail and the herd following in my footsteps. Holy Moley right behind me.

Breaking trail and the herd following in my footsteps.

Colder temperatures bringing them lower towards the tree line.

Counting reindeer as they walk towards me.

Feeding free rangers during the first snowfall.

Fuzzy noses keeping them warm while they snuffle into the snow for low growing vegetation and feed from us herders.

Winnie demonstrating how their thick coats allow the snow to settle, so well insulated it doesn’t melt.

Daisy

13th February 202620th January 2026

The Story of Chickpea

Chickpea is a beautiful lass with a distinctive white nose. She was born in 2020 to mum Angua and dad Spartan. Her first couple of years were quite tough, with illness and not one but two periods of time where she went missing from the herd whilst she was out free ranging in the hills. Thankfully she has truly come into her own and is now a strong healthy lass, in excellent condition. She had her first surviving calf in 2025, a handsome male we named Jig, so a true happy ending after the rather wobbly ‘teenage’ years.

Chickpea’s full brother Zoom (who has very similar markings) also has a rather interesting tale which Andi wrote about in this blog. Well worth a read, another lovely story!

Chickpea as a new-born calf in May 2020.

I didn’t meet Chickpea until summer 2021, when I returned to reindeer herding, so I missed the first year of her life but she certainly looked like a gorgeous calf. The first time I remember meeting Chickpea was in summer 2021 whilst I was out on a free range mission. I found a lovely group of reindeer which included Chickpea and her mum Angua, who both looked very relaxed and in good health.

Mother and daughter, Angua and Chickpea, free ranging together in summer 2021.

At the end of the summer/early autumn we start seeing the free ranging reindeer more on lower slopes of the hills as the higher plateau gets colder, the grazing deteriorates, and the tasty mushrooms start appearing at lower altitudes. By around mid-September 2021 we’d managed to catch up with all of the free rangers, except for one, Chickpea! What had happened to her? This occasionally does happen, a reindeer goes missing and after a while we have to very sadly conclude that they must’ve died whilst out free ranging, perhaps succumbing to an illness. But we didn’t give up hope for Chickpea! On the 29th of September a hillwalker reported a small single reindeer on the mountain plateau. With all other reindeer accounted for this had to be Chickpea. The rest of the free ranging herd were in a good area not too far away from the hill enclosure, so we just had to hope Chickpea was able to navigate her way to them.

Just over a week passed and there were no more reports of her. As normal at that time of year, we drive up to Cairngorm Base Station and spy the hills to see if we can see any free ranging reindeer. On the 9th of October, Sheena and I were up on the hill early looking for reindeer and who did we bump into? Chickpea! Hooray! Along with another yearling female called Sunflower. Her new winter coat looked a bit tatty, and we think she must’ve had an illness in the late summer, but otherwise she appeared just fine.

Chickpea found on the side of the road looking a bit scruffy but fine – on the 9th of October 2021. The first time we’d seen her in a long while.

Sheena leading Chickpea and Sunflower into the enclosure on the 9th of October after being AWOL.

8th of January 2022 – Chickpea looking for more feed on a Hill Trip.

Chickpea and her mum back out on the free range in January 2022.

Chickpea then spent the first part of 2022 out free ranging in the hills. As a young female, she didn’t need to come into the hill enclosure for calving, so she remained out free ranging with the rest of her cohort and all the other non-breeding females. Her mum Angua was brought in for calving and gave us a gorgeous calf, we later called Zoom!

We caught up with Chickpea as normal in the beginning of the summer and Andi found her in a nice big herd of cows and calves in mid-July 2022 looking healthy and in good condition. But as autumn rolled around and once again, we start bringing reindeer in off the free range, Chickpea, Angua and her calf Zoom were the only reindeer not to be accounted for. You’ll read the full story of Zoom’s return in Andi’s blog (link above) but once he was brought back into the enclosure the only reindeer left unaccounted for was Chickpea… again!

We got several reports from hillwalkers of a single reindeer and we even received a couple of emails with photos of her so we knew she was out there somewhere, but frustratingly we were unable to catch up with her ourselves. There are no fences on the free range so the area they can roam is vast and the sightings of her were all from the furthest part of their range.

Then on one otherwise completley normal morning on the 21st of March 2023, Hen and Lisette went out to find and move the herd in time for the Hill Trip. And who was there?! Chickpea! She looked very scruffy and was a little on the lean side but was otherwise in good spirits and keen to get into the handfeed bag!

It is normal for us to go weeks or months without seeing a particular free ranging reindeer over the summer. However, Chickpea ended up evading us for around eight months! Thankfully, this is very unusual! I certainly do not know of another reindeer who has gone AWOL for anywhere near that long whilst I’ve been working here.

Chickpea shortly after her reappearance in March 2023. Everyone was so happy to see that face!

Thankfully Chickpea has not made us all this anxious again! In fact, she’s absolutely thrived and you certainly couldn’t tell by looking at her she has had a couple of rather big solo ‘adventures’. She remained with the herd throughout March and April 2023 and we gave her some extra calorific food to give her a wee boost. She then continued to free range all spring and summer, but we saw her much more frequently!

Chickpea in the middle on the free range in July 2023 – looking scruffy due to the moult but in great condition. She’s obviously recovered and found lots of good grazing.

Chickpea in January 2024 – such a difference from the photo from March 2023 (above).

Chickpea free ranging in the hills in January 2025. What a bonnie lass!

In May 2025 Chickpea gave birth to a gorgeous male calf, also with a white nose. The pair went out to free range for the summer, we caught up with them several times, and they clearly had a good season as they both came back into the enclosure in the autumn in great condition. We named Chickpea’s calf Jig, and he’s one of the biggest calves of the year. Chickpea is going from strength to strength and hopefully will never make us worry so much again!

In May 2025 Chickpea gave birth to this lovely wee fella who we later named Jig.

Chickpea and Jig spent summer 2025 out free ranging in the hills. This time we caught up with her at a perfectly normal time of year – around mid-September – and were able to bring them both back into the hill enclosure.

Chickpea in October 2025 with a very characteristic look on her face – any more food for me?!

Jig is a lovely young lad and naturally tame. This is him in November 2025.

Ruth