In 1911, Norwegian whalers released 10 reindeer on South Georgia for food and hunting; a century later nearly 7,000 were removed after the herds damaged native vegetation

When Norwegian whalers brought ten reindeer to the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia in 1911, the plan was simple: provide a steady supply of fresh meat and give workers a reminder of home. A century later, that small livestock release had become a major environmental problem, forcing authorities to carry out one of the largest invasive species removal projects in the polar region. The Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI), with research published through the Environment & Society Portal’s Arcadia series, documented how the lack of natural predators allowed the reindeer population to grow unchecked. Glaciers kept the animals in the island’s most fertile coastal areas, where they steadily damaged vegetation and threatened native wildlife. In a multi-year effort involving indigenous Sami herders and Norwegian marksmen, officials removed nearly 7,000 reindeer from the British Overseas Territory, allowing damaged habitats to begin recovering.

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