As Christmas is coming, reindeer are among the icon of Christmas and children love them. However, in reality, reindeers in Arctic near the North Pole are facing a critical condition as they are losing weight as the impact of climate change.

Researchers reported that adult reindeer in Norway's Svalbard have lost weight from 55 kg to 48 kg for the past two decades, as written by ABC. Reindeer's weight loss is caused by an increase in Arctic's temperature, they added.

Professor Steve Albon, an ecologist said warmer summer is great for reindeer, but less-chilly winter makes these animals more difficult to find plant food. The scientist who led the study explained that not-so-cold winter makes snows fall more often in form of rain that can turn into a sheet of ice. As a result, reindeer are finding it hard to find plant food.


Albon from the James Hutton Institute and his team described the findings during a meeting of the British Ecological Society.


Ironically, this condition makes reindeer starve and females give birth to smaller (or stunted growth) young.Female reindeers are also prone to miscarriage due to this condition.

So far, most of the climate change-related research carried out in Svalbard have focused on polar bears, rather than other inhabitants such as Arctic foxes, reindeer, or penguins.

As reindeer are weaker, they are prone to be eaten by other creatures such as foxes, according to Eva Fuglei, a researcher from the Norwegian Polar Institute and the Fram Centre. The institution didn't participate in a reindeer study, as TheGuardian quoted.

Previously in 2013, a study showed that the death of 61,000 reindeer in Siberia was related to a rising temperature.


As reindeers are getting weaker, Santa may need a stronger reindeer to pull his sleigh and distribute Christmas gifts.