Circular 87

High rates of female breeding success and offspring survival are the two major factors in productivity of any commercial livestock industry. To im prove breeding success and offspring survival, the herd m anager will establish selection criteria and choose which males and females will breed. The genetics or characteristics of future animals will reflect their parentage. Selection pressure is evident in both wild and captive populations of herbivores. Predators, environment, and human harvest strategies are a few forces which influence the characteristics of freeranging populations of reindeer, caribou, moose, wapiti, etc. In livestock production systems, herd managers often breed for specific characteristics such as larger body size, high birth and growth rates, leanness, etc. A single color or combination of colors has been another characteristic often selected by purebred cattle producers as well as reindeer herders

Circular 94

Revised February 2001. Modifications by Todd Nichols and Alan Tonne.In Alaska, reindeer are managed under both free-ranging and farm conditions. W here reindeer are herded, they are handled twice yearly to harvest velvet antlers and to perform health and record-keeping duties. Under farm conditions, rein deer are handled more frequently to provide routine health care and monitor weight gain. In both types o f management there is a need to efficiently and safely restrain the animal with minimal stress to it. A pneumatic crush for red deer is manufactured in New Zealand and has been used in Alaska for years to restrain reindeer. However, this crush is both expensive and cumbersome to transport. The Reindeer Research Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks designed a lightweight, portable reindeer crush that can be built locally. This crush can be manufactured with materials that are readily available and assembled with minimal welding and construction skills. The materials can be purchased in most areas for less than $500. The design is offered as a prototype for the builder and should be personalized and improved upon to meet the needs of each handling facility. If the crush is to be stationary, heavier materials can be incorporated into its construction and additional bracing can be added at stress points. Also, smaller or larger versions can be built to specialize in restraining calves or bulls

Circular 99

We initiated this study to develop a single small scale boiling tank and test a drying technique on samples of velvet antler

Circular 86

Reindeer in western Alaska have been described as a free-ranging, semi-domesticated animal. Herd management is minimal and animals are less tractable when compared to domestic livestock. Consequently, when reindeer are moved through a corral system they are more susceptible to stress. Stress can occur as a result of circumstances that are related to nutritional, social (crowding), induced psychological or physiological trauma, and parasitic problems, all of which can be interrelated. Excessive stress can reduce herd productivity by lowering reproductive rates, weight gains, survivorship, and immune response. Stress during corralling can result in trauma from overcrowding and trampling, inadequate food and water, disturbance of normal behavioral patterns, and exhaustion. Proper corral design and its operation play a vital role in both prevention of injury and the level of stress the reindeer experience

Circular 100

Factors influencing calf survival are predation, insects, weather, diseases, and-ultimately-dam condition. In addition, reindeer calves on the Seward Peninsula are also subjected to annual herding and handling. The effects of any of these factors were unknown in reindeer herds on the Seward Peninsula. Our objectives were to determine the causes of mortality, particularly through purportedly high grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) predation; and to determine the survival rates of reindeer calves in one herd and provide management recommendations, based on a simple model, attempting to increase the herd numbers

Relationships between carcass characteristics, meat quality, age and sex of free-ranging Alaskan reindeer: a pilot study

Twenty-four reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) carcasses from male and female animals that ranged in age from calves to adults were purchased from Bering Sea Reindeer Products (BSRP), Nunivak Island, Alaska, USA. Preslaughter and abattoir procedures were observed and evaluated. Carcasses were split in half, weighed, and broke into wholesale primal cuts of chuck, rib, loin, and hindquarter. Each primal cut was weighed, boxed, and frozen. Each half carcass of primal cuts was later dissected into lean tissue, bone, and the three compartments of fat: subcutaneous, intermuscular, and peritoneal. A portion of the loin was collected from each animal in order to obtain data on pH and shear force. Sensory panel analysis was performed on loin steaks. Due to management and environmental effects, pH values were high and the meat was dark in colour. Carcasses from adult male reindeer contained significantly lower levels of fat than carcasses of adult females. Data indicated that yearling reindeer are of greatest economic value for meat production

Sustainable agriculture and wildlife resources in Sub Saharan Africa: the relationship to country foods and food security

Presented at the 9th international wildlife ranching symposium: wildlife - the key to prosperity for rural communities, held on 12-16 September 2016 at Hotel Safari & the Safari Court, Windhoek, Namibia.The World Health Organization defines food security when all people have sustained access to good food to maintain life and can do so in socially and culturally acceptable ways. The food should be good in quantity and quality to maintain a healthy life. However, Sub Saharan Africa is entangled and controlled by a rain-fed agricultural scenario. Food insecurity and poverty cannot be tackled without first addressing the issues of sustainable agriculture and rural development in this region. Conversion of agricultural development agendas and wildlife management strategies into genuine action on the ground requires total political and resource commitment. Socioeconomic and technological characteristics of country food Ag-innovation strategies probably hold part of the answer to mitigation and adaptation to nutritional problems of the region. From Nigeria to southern Africa, many people rely on cattle and wildlife production for their economic livelihoods and nutritional stasis, however overuse of the communal grazing areas and suboptimal grazing practices threaten the long-term viability of the land and contribute to persistent food insecurity. To increase the productivity of livestock and other animals using the land, programs must be designed to help communities improve their livestock practices, address rangeland degradation, add shelf stability to country food processing methods, and improve market access and most importantly feed people. This presentation will discuss how the adaptation ag-innovation and the use of ready to eat processing technology will be applied to improve the sustainability of resources in target central and southern African regions. However, application of technology will go hand-in-hand with personal and cultural empowerment. Lessons learned in similar circumstance of food insecurity in Canada’s Arctic will be applied in projects in Sub Saharan Africa

Translocation of introduced reindeer from Hagemeister Island, Alaska

In 1992 and 1993, 411 live reindeer were shipped by air from Hagemeister Island to the Anchorage area, Alaska. Reindeer were either rounded up by helicopter and then corralled or captured by net-gun fired from a helicopter. Outcome of both capture events showed that helicopter corralling of reindeer was more successful than catching them with a net-gun and that post-rut rounding up was more successful than rounding up during the rut itself