Semi-domesticated reindeer herded by indigenous peoples face distinctive welfare challenges from modern pressures.
Reindeer welfare exists at the intersection of animal welfare science, indigenous rights, and climate change. Semi-domesticated reindeer retain many wild behaviours and are handled less frequently than other farm animals, but roundups for vaccination, counting, and slaughter cause acute stress. Climate change is creating new welfare pressures through disrupted grazing and starvation events that could not be mitigated through traditional herding practice alone. Supporting indigenous communities' adaptive capacity is inseparable from reindeer welfare.