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In Western Greenland, where many West-Greenland caribou
(
Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus
) populations had been depleted
through excessive hunting, European wild reindeer (
Rangifer taran-
dus tarandus
) were introduced for the first time in 1952 to support
this traditional food for local indigenous inuit hunters, for both
herding and hunting (Cuyler, 1998). Reindeer and caribou are the
same species (
Rangifer tarandus
), but different sub-species. How-
ever, the transplantation attempt also had one unintended result:
Introduction of reindeer to Western Greenland – transplant of
parasites to wild caribou
The reindeer from Europe brought with them the skin warble fly
(
Oedemagena furandi
) and nasal bot fly (
Cephenemyia trompe
),
which were not occurring in eastern Greenland at that time, and
subsequently spread to the remaining wild caribou, which in turn
led to deteriorated condition of the caribou and increased mortality
rates (Klein, 1980). A similar case was observed with the disease
Brucelloisis which apparently increased in wild caribou in Alaska’s
Seward peninsula after the introduction of reindeer (Klein, 1980).
CASE STUDY #32