History and Problems of Reindeer Selection in Russia1

Abstract

The article describes the history and peculiarities of reindeer selection in USSR and modern Russia. Reindeer selection was promoted to help the socialist reconstruction of reindeer herding as well as to stimulate the food production in large state-owned enterprises to support the growing population of the Soviet Arctic. In the 1930s, the specially created scientific institute performed an extensive survey of the entire population of (semi)domesticated reindeer in the country. After the Second World War, this research was continued and resulted in isolating and official recognition of four breeds of (semi)domesticated reindeer created by the so-called folk selection: Nenets, Chukchi, Evenki and Even breeds. Instructions for bonitirovka (assessment and selection of animals) for each bread were worked and approved as an official document of the Ministry of Agriculture. Special breeding farms were selection work was performed and breeding reindeer produced to be used in other enterprises were created for each reindeer breed. Some of these farms still exist at least officially. Nowadays, reindeer selection and breeding are subsidized by the state. Breeding animals should satisfy standards for body measures, weight and fatness established for their breeds. On the basis of their assessment (bonitirovka), they are assigned to one of four breeding classes: elite, first, second and third. Reindeer that do not fit any of these classes are recommended for slaughter. Selection work in modern Russia faces serious problems that can be divided in three groups. These are, first of all, the effects of environment, of the unstable and poor fodder, which prevents the animals to realize their genotype completely. The second is the lack of qualified specialists in the enterprises. The third is the absence of heredity records and the market of breeding animals, which makes selection work unprofitable. Some of these problems can be ameliorated by new genetic methods and AI, but they hardly can be solved by these means. Therefore, the folk selection -selection of reindeer by reindeer herders themselves on the basis of traditional criteria and esthetic preferences -remains the main type of selectionist work in modern Russia.