Media365
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.
A century of uncontained growth
The first herd was released on the Barff Peninsula by whaler Carl Anton Larsen and other whalers. More releases between 1909 and 1925 created herds in two separate parts of the island. While land-based whaling stations were operating, regular hunting helped keep the numbers under control. That changed after the whaling stations closed in the mid-20th century. Herd management stopped, leaving the reindeer without natural predators or regular human control. Their numbers grew quickly, and by the early 2010s, surveys found several thousand animals spread across the island’s snow-free coastal plains. South Georgia’s steep interior is covered by glaciers and high mountains, leaving reindeer limited to narrow, ice-free coastal areas. These areas also contained some of the island’s richest wildlife and plant habitats.
Vegetation loss and soil erosion
As the reindeer population increased, the animals consumed much of their available food. GSGSSI records show that heavy grazing damaged important native plants, including tussac grass (Parodiochloa flabellata) and burnet (Acaena magellanica). Tussac grass can grow taller than a person and provides important shelter for wildlife. In areas heavily used by reindeer, however, thick tussac stands were reduced to bare ground as the animals grazed and trampled the vegetation. The loss of plants also caused widespread soil erosion. Rain washed away thin layers of topsoil from exposed slopes, making the fragile landscape even more unstable. The damage also affected native birds. Burrowing seabirds such as white-chinned petrels and blue prions lost important nesting areas when reindeer trampling damaged their underground burrows. Some remaining nest entrances were left exposed to weather and predators. Non-native plants, especially annual meadow-grass (Poa annua), also spread quickly through the disturbed soil, further changing the native ecosystem.
The two-stage eradication campaign
Faced with continuing habitat damage, GSGSSI began a formal consultation and decided in 2010 to remove all the reindeer. The operation was carried out in two main phases in different parts of the island. The first phase took place in early 2013 in the Busen region. A specialist team included ten indigenous Sami herders, four Norwegian marksmen, scientists, veterinary staff and support crews. In flatter areas, the Sami herders gathered about 1,000 reindeer into temporary corrals, where the animals were humanely slaughtered under veterinary supervision. In nearby rugged areas, Norwegian marksmen shot groups that could not be safely herded. Officials also made sure the meat was not wasted. More than 7,600 kilograms of inspected reindeer meat was recovered during the Busen operation and later sold to restaurants in the Falkland Islands and cruise ships operating in the region. The second phase focused on the Barff Peninsula and Royal Bay in early 2014. Steep cliffs, rough ground and a lack of safe places to operate herding equipment made corralling impractical, so teams used ground shooting instead. Working from temporary camps supported by the fishery patrol vessel Pharos SG, six Norwegian marksmen searched the Peninsula and removed 3,140 reindeer over six weeks. Across both phases, including earlier culls, nearly 7,000 reindeer were removed, bringing a century of introduced reindeer on South Georgia to an end.
Ecosystem recovery under way
Removing the herds opened the way for wider environmental recovery on South Georgia. Soon after the reindeer operation ended, authorities also completed a major project to remove invasive brown rats, helping restore the island’s coastal habitats. Botanical monitoring in former grazing areas has shown native tussac grass and burnet returning to damaged slopes. As plant roots begin holding the soil together again, ground-nesting seabirds have also started returning to restored burrowing areas. According to records from the Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands, removing the non-native grazers has allowed plant communities damaged by decades of grazing to recover naturally, without the need for continued human intervention.
