Norway is threatening to kill Swedish reindeer that wander over the border

It sounds like Father Christmas’ nightmare – Norwegian authorities are threatening to cull herds of reindeer after becoming fed up with the animals crossing their borders.

Since the end of the Ice Age, herds of reindeer have grazed across northern Scandinavia in relative peace.

However, it now seems their apparent disregard for national borders has caused a feud between Sweden and Norway to emerge.

Norwegian Agriculture Minister Jon Georg Dale has threatened to cull Swedish reindeer crossing the border, after Sweden became reluctant to honour an agreement from almost a decade ago to prevent it from occurring.

But Mr Dale’s threats could have ‘serious consequences’ for the local Swedish sami community, who say that sending the reindeers across the border in the summer is vital for local communities who take turns in letting the animals roam.

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Niila Inga, the chairman of the Swedish Sami association, told Bloomberg: ‘The border is just a line on a paper, but the reindeer have been using these lands since ancient times.

‘We really need a treaty that regulates this on both sides of the border, given that the Norwegian state now says it is going to take vigorous action against the so-called ‘Swedish’ reindeer husbandry.’

After a meeting with Swedish Rural Affairs Minister Sven-Erik Bucht, Dale also warned that the roaming Swedish reindeer are increasing the numbers in Norwegian herds.

‘Norwegian reindeer husbandry is strictly regulated, while there seems to be a free-for-all in Sweden’, he said.

The Norwegian and Swedish border stretches 1,630 kilometers long, the same distance as from London to the south of Spain.