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Reindeer Herders in the Russian Arctic (18 photos)

Recently, Reuters photographer Sergei Karpukhin spent time in Russia’s far north, visiting reindeer herders as they brought their herds into the settlement of Krasnoye— the only settlement connected by road to the regional capital. Karpukhin reports that each winter the herders “corral their reindeer into open-air pens before selecting weak animals to be culled.” and that more than 3,000 reindeer would be culled this season. “The cull helps to preserve the region’s fragile tundra by keeping herd sizes down, while local people sell reindeer meat, hide and antlers to make a living.”