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European Journal of Wildlife Research (2021) 67:52
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-021-01497-z
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The context ofanemerging predation problem: Nenets reindeer
herders andArctic foxes inYamal
AlexandraTerekhina1,2 · AlexanderVolkovitskiy1,2 · NataliaSokolova1 · DorotheeEhrich3 · IvanFufachev1 ·
AleksandrSokolov1
Received: 18 June 2020 / Revised: 9 April 2021 / Accepted: 4 May 2021
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021
Abstract
Human-wildlife problems often arise when predators kill livestock. This can develop into serious conflicts between traditional
pastoralists and other stakeholders, such as government officials and conservationists. In the Yamal Peninsula (Russia), nearly
half of the indigenous Nenets people are reindeer herders. They have recently faced many challenges, such as high mortality
of reindeer from pasture icing or disease outbreaks. In addition, predation of arctic fox on reindeer calves is perceived as an
increasing problem. Here, we use an interdisciplinary approach to study this emerging predation problem. We present here
results from semi-structured interviews with indigenous people, as well as from biological monitoring of fox populations.
Our field data were obtained in Erkuta, in the south of Yamal and in Sabetta in the north, close to a newly built industrial
settlement. We show how different factors may have come together to create a problematic situation. These factors include
the abandonment of the fur trade in the 1990s, the building of huge industrial facilities providing possible resource subsidies
and the increasing frequency of abnormal weather events leading to weak reindeer, high reindeer mortality and abundant
carcasses as resources for predators. We discuss how each of these factors affects the abundance of predators as well as the
understanding of the herders.
Keywords Human-wildlife conflict· Arctic fox· Reindeer herding· Arctic· Yamal· Nenets
Introduction
Situations where wild animals cause problems for human
activities have been studied as human-wildlife conflicts
(HWC; e.g. Graham etal. 2005) in a wide range of cases:
from depredation of livestock, for example, by leopards
(Panthera pardus) or by wolves (Canis lupus; Mabille etal.
2015; Jamtsho and Katel 2019) to devastation of fish farms
by fish-owls (Ketupa flavipes; Sun etal. 2004) and crop
damage caused by rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus; Delibes-
Mateos etal. 2014). Most of the HWC studies focus, how-
ever, on livestock predation by large carnivores and their
economic impact on pastoralists (Lozano etal. 2019). These
conflicts are often exacerbated by the fact that the preda-
tors involved are endangered and protected by law, while
people continue to kill them for economic reasons, secu-
rity or following traditions (Graham etal. 2005; Pooley
etal. 2017). As pointed out by Redpath etal. (2015), the
term wildlife coexistence problem is more appropriate to
describe these situations. Coexistence problems consist of
two different processes: the damage for humans and their
* Alexandra Terekhina
terekhina.yamal@gmail.com
Alexander Volkovitskiy
vlk73@mail.ru
Natalia Sokolova
nasokolova@yandex.ru
Dorothee Ehrich
dorothee.ehrich@uit.no
Ivan Fufachev
fufa4ew@yandex.ru
Aleksandr Sokolov
sokhol@yandex.ru
1 Arctic Research Station ofInstitute ofPlant andAnimal
Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy ofSciences,
Zelenaya Gorka Str., 21, 629400Labytnangi, Russia
2 Centre ofArctic andSiberian Exploration Sociological
Institute oftheFederal Center ofTheoretical andApplied
Sociology RAS, St.Petersburg, Russia
3 Department ofArctic andMarine Biology, UiT, The Arctic
University ofNorway, 9037Tromsø, Norway
European Journal of Wildlife Research (2021) 67:52
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52 Page 2 of 13
livestock caused by wildlife and the conflict between differ-
ent human interests. As a rule, the ultimate cause of damage
is the competition between humans and animals for limited
resources, land in particular (Fernando etal. 2012). Conflict
is a social concept that arises because several stakeholders
view management options to deal with wildlife damage dif-
ferently (Redpath etal. 2013). These stakeholders include
pastoralists, conservationists, scientists, managers and deci-
sion makers at different levels. Each stakeholder is often
inclined to pursue its own goals and avoid dialogue (White
and Ward 2010). Depending on the socioeconomic situation
of a country, various measures are taken to dampen HWC,
such as compensatory payments for killed livestock, reloca-
tion of aggressive animal individuals, control of predator
abundance, as well as changes in local environmental man-
agement regimes (Pedersen etal. 1999; Bangs and Shivik
2001; Mukesh etal. 2015).
Given this dual nature of problematic situations involving
predators and livestock, interdisciplinary studies involving
social scientists and ecologists are required to provide the
knowledge needed to find constructive solutions and pre-
vent conflicts from escalating (Aryal etal. 2014; Tveraa
etal. 2014). Here, we present such an interdisciplinary
study of arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) predation on calves of
domestic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) on the Yamal Pen-
insula (located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
(YNAO) of the Russian Arctic; Fig.1). YNAO reindeer
herding is unique in that nearly 18,000 people in indigenous
communities, mostly Nenets, maintain a nomadic life in the
tundra. Herders still perform year-round migrations as fami-
lies together with their herds (family nomadism). More than
80% of the ca. 225,000 reindeer on the Yamal Peninsula
belong to independent “private” households, whereas the
remainder belong to municipal reindeer herding enterprises.
Reindeer herding is the main source of livelihood for the
Yamal nomads (Stammler 2005; Golovnev and Oscherenko
1999).
The Yamal reindeer herders have faced serious challenges
in the 2010s (Volkovitskiy and Terekhina 2020). In the win-
ter 2013–2014, heavy rain in November followed by strong
frost formed a thick ice crust that blocked the pastures and
caused the loss of thousands of reindeer that were unable to
forage (Forbes etal. 2016; Sokolov etal. 2016). In summer
2016, an outbreak of anthrax not only killed many animals
(Hueffer etal. 2020), but triggered controversial debates on a
Nenets herding “crisis” revealing the concepts of overgrowth
of herds and overgrazing (Golovnev 2017). These events are
exacerbated by the lack of lichen winter pastures, critical
for reindeer. Moreover, in the past few decades, industrial
development has expanded significantly and reduced the
area available for reindeer grazing (about 80% of Russian
gas reserves are concentrated in YNAO), complicating the
life of nomadic families (Kumpula etal. 2010).
Until the 1990s, the most dangerous predators for reindeer
in Yamal were wolves. According to the indigenous people,
wolves had almost disappeared from the Yamal Peninsula
Fig. 1 Map showing the loca-
tion of monitoring sites: white
corresponds to the Erkuta
research station, yellow cor-
responds to the Sabetta research
station. Violet, blue and green
indicate the delimitations of
bioclimatic subzones. The high
Arctic, low Arctic and Subarctic
are drawn according to Walker
etal. (2005).The infrastructure
of YNAO is represented by
settlements (white star is the
capital of the YNAO, white
circle-village, black square-
industrial facility, black line-
railway, dotted blue line-winter
road)
European Journal of Wildlife Research (2021) 67:52
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Page 3 of 13 52
by the end of the 1990s. This is because of the introduction
of snowmobiles to Yamal at that time, which allowed herd-
ers to decimate predators unable to hide in the open tundra
landscape, particularly given almost no restrictions on wolf
hunting in Russia. In addition to wolves, reindeer calves can
be attacked by wolverines (Gulo gulo), white-tailed eagles
(Haliaeetus albicilla), golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos),
ravens (Corvus corax) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in the
south of the peninsula (Mukhachev and Salatkin 2008).
The Arctic fox is a common and widespread small preda-
tor in most of the Arctic (Berteaux etal. 2017) and one of
the most common mammalian predators in Yamal. Through-
out much of its range, the availability of small rodent prey,
particularly cyclical lemming populations, is the main
driver of arctic fox dynamics, and reproduction follows the
rodent cycle (Elton 1924; Shtro 2009). Despite their prefer-
ence for lemmings, arctic foxes can utilize a wide range of
food resources such as birds and eggs (Lamarre etal. 2017;
McKinnon etal. 2013), carcasses of ungulates (Eide etal.
2012; Ehrich etal. 2017) and marine resources (Nevai and
van Gorder 2012). Moreover, they can quickly adapt to live
close to humans and can subsidize their diets with human
food refuse (Golovatin and Sokolov 2017; Savory etal.
2014).
The fur trade, for which the arctic fox was the main
resource, has historically played a significant role for the
tundra people and the development of the indigenous cul-
ture in Yamal. During the Tsarist colonial period, Nenets
paid obligatory taxes in arctic fox pelts. In the Soviet times,
many brigades of hunters were established on the Yamal
Peninsula, and large-scale hunting of arctic foxes continued
(Supplementary 1). After the collapse of the USSR in the
1990s, changes in the global fur market led to the cessation
of large-scale fur hunting on Yamal. At present, the indig-
enous people only hunt arctic foxes for pelts to decorate
traditional clothes.
While arctic foxes have been a valued resource for cen-
turies, to the best of our knowledge, the only case where
damage from arctic fox predation is considered a problem
comes from Iceland. There the species has historically been
viewed as a pest, predating on lambs and destroying nests
of eiders; and a state-organized culling program has been
in place since the middle ages (Hersteinsson etal. 1989).
Arctic foxes have been reported to predate on reindeer calves
on occasion in the Russian North (Skalon 1940; Sdobdikov
1935; Geptner etal. 1967), but they have been thought to
scavenge mainly on reindeer carcasses and not to cause sub-
stantive economic damage to reindeer herding (Sdobnikov
1935: 22). In the area of Sámi reindeer herding in Fennos-
candia, the population of arctic fox is extremely small, and
no damage on reindeer has been recorded (Tveraa etal.
2003; Angerbjörn etal. 2013). In Yamal, however, predation
of arctic foxes on reindeer calves has recently been perceived
as a real problem by herders. Working among Nenets since
2008, we have observed growing tensions in different areas
of Yamal and heard herders reporting massive attacks of
these predators in the last 3years. We started to pay special
attention to the “arctic fox case” after reading an official
letter sent to the Government of YNAO by the board of the
Yamalskoye municipal reindeer herding enterprise after the
calving period in 2018. The letter reported unprecedented
predation of arctic foxes during calving in 2017–2018 in
the northern part of the peninsula causing great damage to
herds. The board argued for regulation of the population of
these predators. Thus, the letter had formally stated the arctic
fox predation as a problem.
Here, we aim to describe the context of an emerging
predation problem. We take an interdisciplinary approach
combining investigations of the context and understand-
ing of the problem among reindeer herders carried out by
social anthropologists with data about arctic fox populations
resulting from ecological monitoring. Interviews with herd-
ers were used to obtain estimates of the importance of the
problem. We also asked herders for their opinions on the
causes of this increased predation and their perceptions of
trends in arctic fox population size, as well as fox hunting
activity levels. From an ecological point of view, increased
predation may result from an increase in the predator popu-
lation and/or from a change in resource use by predators. We
assessed trends in arctic fox abundance (breeding density) as
well as the dynamics of their most important resource, small
rodents, in order to assess whether population growth could
have caused increased predation on a new type of prey, or
whether changes in the relationship between foxes and small
rodents indicate use of new resources.
Methods
Study area andlocal population
This study was carried out in two areas located near the
Erkuta and Sabetta field stations on the Yamal Peninsula
(Fig.1; hereafter Erkuta and Sabetta). Erkuta is located in
the low Arctic tundra, in the lower reaches of the Yorkuta-
Yakha river (68.2°N, 69.2°E). Local private reindeer herders
(19 households with ca. 2000 reindeer in total) spend the
winter and the calving period in a radius of 50km from the
research station, and in summer, some households gather
all their reindeer and migrate westwards along the coast of
the Baydaratskaya Bay to summer pastures. Others do not
migrate, but stay for fishing in non-migrating chums (Nenets
nomadic tents).
Sabetta (71.2°N, 71.5°E) is located in the northeastern
part of the Yamal Peninsula on the border between the
low and high Arctic. The station is adjacent to the Sabetta
European Journal of Wildlife Research (2021) 67:52
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industrial workers’ settlement, sea port and liquid natural gas
plant (“Yamal LNG” project). Approximately 50 households
with a total of 8500 reindeer reside in the area radiating
100km around the research station and migrate in different
directions during the summer. Reindeer herders of northern
Yamal have rather short circular migratory routes, uniting
several households in summer. Arctic foxes are the most
common mammalian predator in both study areas, and their
primary prey are several species of small rodents including
voles (Microtus gregalis and M. middendorffii) and lem-
mings (Dicrostonyx torquatus and Lemmus sibiricus) (Shtro
2009; Ehrich etal. 2017). Regarding other potential preda-
tors of reindeer calves, in Erkuta, red foxes and wolverines
occur at low densities (Sokolov etal. 2016), and wolverines
have also been observed in Sabetta. As mentioned above,
wolves are currently nearly absent from the peninsula.
Interviews
The anthropological part of this research was designed as a
qualitative study of the range of explanatory models of Nen-
ets referring to their interactions with arctic foxes. The ques-
tions related to arctic foxes were a section of a broader sur-
vey that included topics such as climate change, observations
of different animal species and the problems reindeer herd-
ers face in Yamal (Table1). The interviews were conducted
by two social anthropologists together (male and female) at
both research sites: in Erkuta in March and June 2019 and in
Sabetta in July–August 2019. All interviews were carried out
in an informal setting, in the nomadic camps, as is preferable
for Nenets. Given the logistical challenges, we were able
to reach and interview 13 households in Erkuta (out of 19;
the remaining families live in the southern part of the area,
further away from the field station) and 32 in Sabetta (out of
50). All people we asked, and who were not busy with urgent
work, accepted to take part in the survey.
Based on our long-term experience of ethnographic
research of Yamal reindeer herders (Terekhina 2018;
Terekhina and Volkovitskiy 2019; Volkovitskiy and
Terekhina 2020), we chose a household (large family)
as a survey unit. There is a clear gender division of
responsibilities in the Nenets culture. Managing reindeer,
guarding herds and other work with the animals are carried
out by men; therefore, they may a priori be more aware of
interactions with arctic foxes. However, in most cases, the
interview was conducted in a chum in the presence of several
family members (a couple, their children and other relatives
living together) who answered alternately or in complement
to each other. The age of the herders who answered the
questions ranged from 23 to 72years, and in a third of the
households, three generations were represented (elderly
people, middle-aged people and youngsters). In all cases,
the groups reached consensus on the answers.
We used semi-structured interviews, a common method in
social studies (Schensul and LeCompte 2013; Adams 2015).
The researchers had a basic list of questions, but we talked
with the herders following the flow of the discussion but
making sure we covered all topics on the list. The order of
the topics could thus vary in the course of the conversation,
and we changed the wording if something was not clear to
the informant. In such interviews, answers are given in a
free and extensive form, which often leads to additional
clarifying questions from the interviewer. The interview
was conducted in Russian and in Nenets by two researchers
together for better communication and quick recording of
answers. All responses were written down in field diaries.
In some cases, when the informants gave their consent, we
recorded the answers with a digital recorder and transcribed
them later. However, we did not rely on mandatory digital
recording, since in our experience of fieldwork in Yamal,
indicates that nomads may change their answers when they
are recorded, considering social studies as part of State
policy and control.
The answers to the questions about hunting depended on
the degree of trust of the informants to the anthropologists
and are presented here on condition of anonymity. There
are indeed technical difficulties for many reindeer herders
living far from villages to obtain and/or to renew firearms
licenses, and thus some people have unregistered arms. The
last question is not directly related to arctic fox predation on
Table 1 The list of questions that was developed by anthropologists and ecologists together, and formed the basis for the interviews. The ques-
tions were not asked in a given order
Questions
Do you think that the arctic fox population has increased, decreased or remained unchanged? Why do you think that this is happening?
Do arctic foxes attack calves and adult reindeer? Please, give examples
What percentage of calves in your herd are on average lost to arctic foxes?
How do you solve this predation problem? Did it exist earlier, and what did people do in such cases at that time?
How many arctic foxes have you hunted this year? How many have you hunted last year? If you don’t hunt arctic foxes, why not?
How are arctic fox pelts used at present?
Have there been serious cases of reindeer losses (mortality) in your area during the last five years? If yes, when and what caused them?
European Journal of Wildlife Research (2021) 67:52
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Page 5 of 13 52
reindeer. However, the information about reindeer mortal-
ity provided data regarding resource subsidies for predators
(reindeer carcasses), potentially affecting their survival rate
and abundance, and information about the recent develop-
ment of the herd of the respondent.
The data obtained from the interviews were summarized,
applying a thematic analysis based on coding (Braun and
Clarke 2006). In each research area, qualitatively similar
answers were grouped and their frequency was used to iden-
tify prevailing opinions.
Den survey
The ecological part of this research was based on den
surveys, which constitute a standard method of monitoring
arctic fox populations (Angerbjörn etal. 1995; Berteaux
etal. 2017). We carried out annual den surveys in both
study areas. In Erkuta, dens were monitored from 2007 to
2019 and the study area was gradually increased from 130
km2 in 2007 to ca. 230 km2 from 2015 to 2019. In Sabetta,
we surveyed dens from 2014 to 2019 and the study area
covered 130 km2 in 2014 and ca. 170 km2 in 2015–2019.
We searched the study areas for dens and described all
dens found. As far as possible, all known dens were visited
each year between late-June and mid-July and inspected
for breeding activity as described in Ehrich etal. (2017). A
den was considered occupied when pups were seen, clearly
heard or documented on an automatic camera with motion
sensor. Because small rodents are the main driver of arctic
fox populations in Yamal, small rodent populations were
monitored by snap trapping on permanent plots in both
study areas. For Erkuta, the trapping protocol is described
in Ehrich etal. (2017). In Sabetta, a similar protocol was
used (Supplementary 2).
Data from den surveys was summarized as the propor-
tion of visited dens where breeding activity was detected.
We tested for a temporal trend in the proportion of occu-
pied dens with generalized linear mixed models (GLMM;
using the function glmmTMB in R, R Core Team 2020) with
the state of the den (breeding/non breeding) as a response
variable, and a binomial error distribution. We restricted the
analysis to dens that had been used for breeding at least once
during the study period. In addition to year, we used small
rodent abundance as a co-variable. An abundance index was
estimated as the total number of small rodents (all species
pooled) trapped in the first part of the summer per 100 trap
nights. To compare the two study areas, we tested for a dif-
ference in density of breeding dens (number of breeding
events per 100 km2) using a t test.
As an indication of long-term population trends, we com-
pared the density of all potential breeding dens present in the
two study areas (dens with 4 entrances or more; Ehrich etal.
2017; with or without foxes present) to published historical
data (Tsetsevinskiy 1940; Sosin etal. 1985; Shtro 2009). In
the sandy landscape of Yamal, which is underlain by per-
mafrost, arctic fox dens degrade in the course of a decade or
two if they are not used. On the other hand, it is quite easy
for foxes to dig new dens; therefore, it is likely that pro-
nounced long-term changes in population size would change
the density of dens in an area. Den densities were compared
for the exact plots which had been visited in the past, as well
as for the larger recent monitoring areas.
Results
Arctic fox predation onreindeer calves
All the households stated that arctic foxes have always
hunted newborn calves on occasion. However, Erkuta
and Sabetta Nenets identified 2017 as the onset of notice-
ably higher frequencies of arctic fox attacks on calves (the
respondents mentioned this specific year or referred to
“2–3years ago”). All 32 households of Sabetta and 11 out
of 13 households of Erkuta reported that arctic foxes were
now hunting calves actively. The herders often started talk-
ing about arctic foxes themselves, even before we asked our
questions: “Arctic foxes have become shameless. They attack
the calves”, “Once they killed 20 calves. They attack in the
dark”, “We’ve pulled calves’ legs out of the arctic fox’s den”.
There are no valid statistics reflecting the losses during
calving in privately owned herds; however, the herders are
aware of the dynamics of their herd and can estimate the
damage caused by predation. Sabetta herders perceived this
predation problem more sharply and claimed that losses
from arctic foxes amount to 10–30% of all offspring: “From
100 females arctic foxes can eat one third of calves”, “Last
year the foxes attacked a lot. They are waiting for a bliz-
zard and attack. Last year we had 30 calves together with
our neighbours – only 10 of them survived”, “Arctic fox
steal calves. One third of the offspring in one season can be
killed”. At the same time, most Nenets from Erkuta found it
more difficult to estimate the losses of calves, and only four
of the households included in the survey provided estimates,
which amounted to ca. 10%.
Experienced herders noted that arctic foxes usually
attacked at dusk or during blizzards, avoiding guards. The
predators were rarely detected near a large herd because of
their small size and white colour; moreover, reindeer do not
react to their presence, as they reacted to wolves in the past.
Sabetta reindeer herders revealed a narrative referring to
collective hunting: “They attack in groups: two of them dis-
tract the female, while the third pulls away the calf”, “When
the mother goes away to feed, they attack several together”.
Nenets reported observations of 2–4 animals hunting
together, some predators distracting the female reindeer,
European Journal of Wildlife Research (2021) 67:52
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while the others grabbed the calf. They claimed that calves
born away from a herd become easy prey. During the process
of birth, a female reindeer generally remains defenseless
against predators: “3–4 foxes wait until the female reindeer
gives birth. Before the calf is completely born, the foxes start
to bite it. The herder has to pull out the dead calf, which was
bitten to death”.
The herders tried to take additional measures to protect
the reindeer from predators during calving. They guarded the
herd 24h a day and constantly repelled arctic fox advances,
circling the herd on a snowmobile, using scarecrows, and
shooting approaching foxes. We were told that up to 50
arctic foxes could be killed while gathering around a calv-
ing herd (Sabetta). Rabies was mentioned as an additional
problem related to arctic foxes by all our informants in both
study areas. Nenets claimed that the increasing population
of foxes in recent years has resulted in a larger number of
attacks of rabid animals on reindeer as well as an increased
number of cases among the herders’ dogs. Herders as a rule
terminate sick animals.
Drivers ofarctic fox population trends:
understanding ofNenets herders
Reindeer herders associated the increased frequency
of attacks with an increased abundance of arctic foxes
(Supplementary 3). All 32 households from Sabetta believed
that in the last few years (the periods mentioned varied: 5,
10years, “since the end of 90s”), the arctic fox population
had increased. Their estimations ranged from “there have
become more” to “a lot more”. About three-quarters of the
Erkuta Nenets (8 out of 13) shared this view, but we also
received opposite statements. Two households claimed that
the number of arctic foxes had decreased; one said that the
number had not changed, and two found it difficult to give
an exact answer.
Regarding the causes of arctic fox population changes,
most people who spoke about an increase associated it with
the decline of fur hunting in Yamal in the 1990s: “Previ-
ously, we specifically hunted them, 20–30 people gathered
together, now they are needed only for collars”, “It happened
when we stopped hunting them, so there have been a lot of
them. 18–20 cubs might be in a den”, “There are lots of
them, because nobody buys the furs anymore”. About a third
of all the interviewed reindeer herders in both areas worked
as hunters in the past; and they recalled their experience and
observations from previous years. Since the 1990s, for the
first time in several centuries, arctic foxes have become har-
vested only for the personal needs of the indigenous people,
i.e. pelts for sewing traditional clothing. Pelts are used for
edging of Nenets women’s outerwear collars, winter hats and
men’s hoods. According to the informants’ estimates and our
assessment, based on years of personal experience living
with nomadic Nenets, an average tundra family requires 2–4
winter pelts every 3years for sewing.
Five households from the Sabetta area directly linked the
increase of arctic fox abundance with the development of the
large industrial settlement and the roads leading to it. They
said that the rapid appearance of large numbers of workers
has increased the amount of food waste available to scaven-
gers: “There are cabins for workers along the winter road
where cars stop. Drivers eat there and throw away leftovers.
Arctic foxes are not afraid of cars and people”. Despite strict
requirements and compliance with international standards
for the storage and disposal of garbage by Yamal LNG, many
videos and photos can be found on the Internet showing shift
workers feeding arctic foxes, and the animals themselves
wandering around the facilities: “The workers themselves
feed them”. According to the Nenets, arctic foxes concentrate
in large numbers near Sabetta from November to April, then
move to the reindeer herds to hunt calves or scavenge dead
ones while reindeer are calving in May.
One household in Erkuta stated that the abundance of
arctic foxes has increased because of high winter mortal-
ity of reindeer and availability of carcasses in recent years.
Another answer suggested that a decrease of the arctic fox
population may be related to a decrease in lemming abun-
dance. This opinion was expressed by a family whose main
activity was fur hunting in the Erkuta region for many years
in the past. However, this understanding may have resulted
from communication and friendship with neighbouring
biologists who were doing research on the impact of chang-
ing lemming dynamics on arctic predators. Five out of 13
households in Erkuta and 6 out of 32 households in Sabetta
found it difficult to explain the reasons for changes in arctic
fox abundance.
Recent cases ofreindeer losses
Our informants in Erkuta and Sabetta described several
cases of reindeer mortality in recent years (Supplementary
4). The herds in Sabetta were not harmed in 2013–2014
since there was no ice crust in the North of the peninsula.
After the 2016 anthrax outbreak, a compulsory anti-anthrax
vaccination was carried out in YNAO. The Sabetta herders
argued that after this campaign, a large number of their rein-
deer died in autumn 2016 reacting to a “wrong” vaccine or
to an “incorrect” method of vaccination. At the same time,
our informants claimed that “the calves born in 2017 and
2018 [that were not killed by arctic foxes] had not survived”
and pregnant females had more miscarriages because rein-
deer were “weak after the vaccine”. In 2018, the regional
media reported that the local loss of 1000 reindeer caused
by spring icing and lack of forage occurred in the north of
Yamal, near the Sabetta area. Our interviews indicated that
the scale of reindeer mortality in 2018 was underestimated.
European Journal of Wildlife Research (2021) 67:52
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Losses of reindeer occurred throughout the entire Yamal
Peninsula, and many of the Nenets households are still
affected by consequences of the disaster. Unlike in 2013, the
ice in 2018 had appeared in the early spring and impacted
both animals weakened by the winter and newborn calves. In
Sabetta, local icing events also caused reindeer losses in late
winter 2019. Some of the herders from Sabetta estimated
their losses during the last decade as 20–50% of their herds
and these figures (ca. 30% of losses) coincided with losses
reported by herders from Erkuta.
Trends inthearctic fox breeding activity
Data from the den surveys show overall higher annual
densities of dens with breeding in Sabetta (mean and
standard deviation 5.8 ± 3.0 dens per 100 km2) than in
Erkuta (2.3 ± 1.7; t test: t = 2.68, p = 0.03). In both sites,
there was considerable interannual variation in breeding
activity. Over the 6years of den survey in Sabetta, there
was a close to significant trend of increase in the proportion
of occupied dens when taking into account small rodent
abundance (estimate on the logit scale 0.46, 95% confidence
interval CI = − 0.01–0.84, p = 0.06; Fig.2; Supplementary
2). Not including small rodents into the model, there was
no indication for an increase in the proportion of occupied
dens (effect of time − 0.16, CI = − 0.38–0.07, p = 0.17).
In Erkuta, during 13years of den survey, there was no
temporal trend in the proportion of dens with breeding
foxes (− 0.04, CI = − 0.13–0.05, p = 0.37; Supplementar y
5). There was a positive effect of small rodent abundance
in Sabetta, but not in Erkuta.
Comparisons with historical data revealed a slight
increase in the density of arctic fox dens excavated in both
areas (Table2; all dens with more than four entrances,
both with and without foxes present in a particular year).
In Sabetta, this was the case for the plot that had been
visited in 1980, wherein two dens disappeared and three
new dens were found in present time. For the larger study
area, density was slightly lower, reflecting more var-
ied habitat including more of the less productive tundra
areas outside of the river valley. In Erkuta, an increase
was observed independently of the part of the study area
considered. However, for both study areas, the recent esti-
mates resulted from many years of field work, whereas the
old estimates were obtained during 1–2 seasons.
Discussion
The social part of the study revealed that the majority of
Nenets households report an increase of arctic foxes preda-
tion on reindeer calves in recent years and express serious
concern. These data are in agreement with information we
obtained from herders in other parts of Yamal while work-
ing with other projects. The reindeer herders of Sabetta
estimated the damage from predation at 10–30% of new-
born calves. The Erkuta Nenets who provided an estimate
assessed their losses at ~ 10%. Sabetta herders described
in detail the hunting behaviour of arctic foxes, which they
observed while guarding the herds. All the interviewed
households in Sabetta and two-thirds of those in Erkuta
attributed the increased predation to an increase in the arctic
fox population, which they had observed. Most Nenets con-
sider the cessation of large-scale fur hunting since the 1990s
as a main reason for the increase of the arctic fox population.
However, interview data from our two field sites revealed
that respondents perceived arctic fox predation and dynam-
ics a little differently in the two areas. Around Sabetta,
Fig. 2 Proportion of arctic fox
dens with breeding activity
(grey bars) among all visited
dens, in which breeding has
been recorded at least once dur-
ing the study period, in the two
study areas Erkuta and Sabetta
on Yamal. Proportions were
estimated based on 263 visits of
26 dens in Erkuta and 114 visits
of 20 dens in Sabetta. Triangles
show the total number of small
rodents trapped per 100 trap
nights in early summer
European Journal of Wildlife Research (2021) 67:52
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52 Page 8 of 13
herders unanimously reported an increase of predation and
of the arctic fox population, whereas the opinion of people
at Erkuta varied. Observations of the herders agreed with the
monitoring data, which revealed almost two fold higher den-
sities of breeding arctic foxes around Sabetta compared to
Erkuta, and thus indicated higher abundance. This contrast
in perception of the problem may, however, also be related
to different social and economic situations in the areas.
Half of the households in Erkuta live separately from their
herds, transferring their reindeer to migrating neighbours.
Thus they did not see their herds for many months, including
the calving period. In this regard, the owners were unable
to estimate the number of lost calves from predation, since
calves have also died from weather events in recent years.
This also explains why Erkuta Nenets could not describe in
detail the behaviour of arctic foxes hunting calves.
The monitoring data on breeding dens did not provide
evidence for a recent increase in abundance of reproducing
arctic foxes. The data from the den surveys in both areas
spanned the onset of the perceived massive attacks on calves,
but no increase in absolute breeding activity was detected;
although in Sabetta, more foxes bred recently than expected
given small rodent dynamics. On a longer time scale, we
used the density of potential breeding dens excavated in the
study area (including dens with or without foxes present in
the particular year of survey) as a proxy for abundance to
compare our data with historical data from the literature. In
both study areas, more dens were found today than recorded
in the past. More excavated dens might indicate higher fox
densities in the area. It is, however, also likely that more dens
were found in the study areas in the recent period because
we spent more time searching for dens during multiannual
monitoring compared to the short time historical studies.
Results presented here can be considered in terms of three
lines of thought (Fig.3).
1. State and drivers of the arctic fox population. Follow-
ing the reindeer herders perception, arctic foxes attack calves
more frequently due to the increase in arctic fox population
size. The monitoring of dens did not suggest an increase
in the breeding population. However, not all arctic foxes
breed every year, and there may be a considerable number
of young non-breeding individuals, which would not be
included in our estimate. The perception of the herders
reflects their observations during the whole year, in par-
ticular the calving period in May, and on a larger area than
the monitoring plots. It is thus complementary to the infor-
mation obtained from ecological monitoring in summer.
Arctic foxes are very mobile animals, and migration may
lead to different local dynamics in different seasons (Shtro
2009). For Sabetta, where the fox population increase was
greater and fox attacks on reindeer were perceived as more
serious, it is possible that the industrial settlement attracted
foxes in winter, and led to higher fox densities in the larger
area surrounding it also during the calving period in May.
Expansion of the network of research sites using harmonized
field protocols would certainly provide more information for
understanding the ongoing processes (Berteaux etal. 2017).
From the Nenets point of view, the main reason for the
perceived growth of the arctic fox population is the reduction
of the fur trade during the 1980s and its cessation during the
1990s. Data from other parts of the Arctic do not reveal a
uniform correlation between hunting and population trends
in arctic foxes. Berteaux etal. (2017) reported trends for all
monitored arctic fox populations, and the only population
that was naturally increasing was that from Iceland, which
was intensively hunted during the increase period (Carbonell
Ellgutter etal. 2020). None of the monitored populations
in North America showed increasing trends, despite reduc-
tions in hunting pressure there as well. However, monitoring
focused usually on den surveys and thus on the breeding part
of the population, and spanned rather short time periods.
An increase in the abundance of non-breeding foxes or a
potential slow long-term trend might thus have remained
undetected.
Resource availability is a major driver of arctic fox
dynamics. Thus, the long increase periods of the Icelandic
population have been attributed to increasing prey popula-
tions (Pálsson etal. 2016; Carbonell Ellgutter etal. 2020).
In Yamal, the main prey for arctic foxes are small rodents, in
particular lemmings (Shtro 2009). In recent decades, how-
ever, the characteristic lemming peaks have been absent
from the southern part of Yamal (Fufachev etal. 2019). The
Table 2 Density of arctic fox
dens in different time periods.
Venuyeuoyakha is located
50km from Sabetta. For Erkuta
and Sabetta, densities were
compared exactly on the plots
surveyed in the past, as well as
in the larger present day study
areas
Survey years Area km2Study area Dens per 100
km2Source
1933–1934 Not reported Venuyeuoyakha 13.3 Tsetsevinskiy (1940)
1980 55 Sabetta 16 Sosin etal. (1985)
2014–2019 55 Sabetta 18 Present study
2014–2019 169 Sabetta 14.2 Present study
1989 72 Erkuta 13.9 Report of IPAE (1990)
2007–2019 72 Erkuta 18 Present study
2007–2019 234 Erkuta 18.7 Present study
European Journal of Wildlife Research (2021) 67:52
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Page 9 of 13 52
breeding activity of arctic foxes in Erkuta is at present not
significantly correlated to the small rodent abundance index,
but responds both to vole density and to the availability of
reindeer carcasses (Ehrich etal. 2017). Whereas an absence
of lemming peaks would predict a decrease in arctic fox
abundance (e.g. Ims etal. 2017), the increased availability
of reindeer carcasses due to a series of catastrophic events
during the last decade, which were reported in detail by
our respondents (Supplementary 4), may represent a new
resource that supports foxes during the harsh winter months.
Indeed, reindeer carcasses have supported population growth
of red foxes in northern Norway (Killengreen etal. 2011).
In Sabetta, anthropogenic subsidies from the workers’
settlement may provide additional resources to the local
population of arctic foxes, as has been described in Alaska
(Lehner 2012). The high proportion of reproductive dens
despite low small rodent abundance observed during recent
years (and nearly significant increase when taking into
account the small rodent numbers) suggest that foxes benefit
from resource subsidies (Fig.2). In general, a significant
increase in human presence in the Yamal tundra was
recorded in the past decade. Since 2010, several Russian
flagship gas and oil industry projects have been launched.
This has resulted in a large number of workers spread over
the peninsula in dozens of industry settlements, permanent
settlements, trade points and rail road stations. Supplies for
all these workers are delivered by trucks on seasonal winter
roads, the drivers of which live in their trucks for several
days or weeks and also contribute to food waste.
In addition to industrial infrastructure, food subsidies
for arctic foxes resulting from traditional land use activi-
ties, reindeer herding and fishing, may also have increased.
Indeed, four large slaughter houses were built on the pen-
insula in the last decade, creating seasonal sources of huge
amounts of slaughtering waste. Altogether, this increased
resource availability may have resulted in higher winter sur-
vival of arctic foxes and could have contributed to a regional
population increase. Supplemental feeding has indeed been
shown to have a positive effect on arctic fox population pro-
ductivity in Angerbjӧrn etal. (2013).
2. Changes in arctic fox behaviour. Another explanation
for the frequent attacks on reindeer calves in recent years
could be a functional response of arctic foxes to the changes
in small rodent dynamics and community composition. Arc-
tic foxes are indeed known to use a variety of alternative
prey such as geese, waders, and marine resources when the
lemming population is low (Bêty etal. 2002; Tarroux etal.
2012). In Svalbard, they are known to prey on new-born seal
pups on the sea ice (Smith 1976). It is thus possible that in
Yamal, they predate increasingly on reindeer calves as an
alternative to the declining small rodent populations. Both
in Sabetta and in Erkuta, the period of increased attention
to the predation problem coincides with several years of low
small rodent abundance. In Erkuta, however, the changes
in small rodent dynamics already occurred 15years ago
(Fufachev etal. 2019); thus, an increase in damage on calves
could have occurred earlier than in Sabetta. Moreover, it
is possible that certain arctic foxes specialise on hunting
Fig. 3 Conceptual diagram illustrating the context of the arctic fox
predation problem on reindeer calves in Yamal. The studied phenom-
enon (blue) is in the centre. Its components on both sides: social con-
text (orange and light orange) and ecological context (green and light
green). Additional factors that are taken into account in discussion of
the results are not highlighted
European Journal of Wildlife Research (2021) 67:52
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52 Page 10 of 13
reindeer calves, maybe because of a bolder personality (Choi
etal. 2019), something which may be supported by observa-
tions of the herders and could warrant further investigation.
The development of such behaviour could have been facili-
tated by the poor condition of some reindeer after adverse
winters and the birth of weak calves, which could provide
easy prey for foxes.
The changes in arctic fox behaviour observed by the herd-
ers in Sabetta (foxes are bolder and hunt in groups) might
be related to their use of anthropogenic resources in the
settlement in winter. Indeed, when foraging at trash dumps
or large amounts of slaughtering remains, arctic foxes can
occur in groups of up to 10–20 animals. From their experi-
ence in the settlement, some of them may also lose to a
certain degree their fear of humans.
3. Perception of the reindeer herders. Finally, it is pos-
sible that the frequency of dramatic events (both climatic
and disease-related) together with a decreasing capacity of
winter pastures, which all led to massive reindeer mortality
(Bartsch etal. 2010; Forbes etal. 2016; Sokolov etal. 2016;
Golovnev 2017), made the herders’ perception of reindeer
losses particularly sensitive (Perevalova 2015). Thus, their
assessment of the scale of the problem of arctic fox attacks
could be overestimated, as we know from other studies (e.g.
Sun etal. 2004). In this case, we would witness a social phe-
nomenon consisting of the appearance of a similar percep-
tion of danger by tundra inhabitants living at great distances
from each other. Identifying the causes of the appearance
of such similar impressions would warrant further specific
social investigations.
To obtain additional evidence, it would be useful for
researchers and/or the reindeer herders themselves document
attacks of arctic foxes on calves with photos or videos, and
possibly use mortality sensors (e.g. Nybakk etal. 2002). The
herders could also document and count dead animals with
clear signs of having been killed by the predators. Expe-
rience from Scandinavia, where conflict between reindeer
herders and predator management has been ongoing for dec-
ades, shows that it is extremely important to obtain a solid
knowledge base on the impact of predators (Tveraa etal.
2003; Norberg etal. 2006; Nieminen 2010).
Human-wildlife coexistence is often problematic because
of misunderstandings and conflicts between stakeholders
(Jacobsen and Linnell 2016). The case of arctic fox attacks
on reindeers in Yamal does not include conservation con-
cerns, since the arctic fox is not a protected species in Rus-
sia. However, we still witnessed misunderstandings and a
lack of dialogue between the officials and reindeer herders.
The letter from the reindeer enterprise informing the Yamal
Government about the arctic fox problem and asking for
help (mentioned above), was received very skeptically by
some representatives of the Government, who informally
expressed their distrust of the herders. They perceived the
letter as a request for financial compensation by the herders
on the basis of a problem that does not exist. Moreover, they
did not even consider the theoretical possibility of such a
phenomenon. Without investigating any further, they con-
cluded that “there is no way that the small arctic foxes are
dangerous for reindeer”. No discussions about predation on
reindeer calves were initiated between the Government and
the reindeer herders. At present, the reindeer herding enter-
prise responsible for the letter no longer exists, and private
herders are not declaring attacks by the predators and their
losses of animals. This may be the result of a lack of well-
established channels of communication with officials, and
possibly because of the lack of response of decision makers
to previous requests.
According to Nenets, they independently try to cope
with predation by arctic foxes by guarding their herds dur-
ing calving with guns and traps. However, in contrast to the
successful liquidation of wolves in the open tundra using
snowmobiles, the vehicles have been less effective against
arctic foxes. Our informants recalled that earlier, when
wolves attacked, reindeer always demonstrated fear behav-
iour, which was considered a sign requiring immediate reac-
tion by the herders. The reaction of the herd to arctic foxes
is different: the reindeer stay calm and do not express any
fear, and do thus not warn the herders. It is also difficult for
the herders to detect the small, well camouflaged predators,
which often attack at dusk or in blizzards. This behaviour of
the reindeer, apparently not fearing foxes, is consistent with
the understanding that a serious threat from this predator is
a recent phenomenon. Finally, low-income households com-
plained about the lack of opportunities to buy cartridges (in
addition to the legislative impediments) and modern snow-
mobiles to effectively guard reindeer during calving.
We believe that this problem of predation on reindeer
should be addressed by establishing a constructive dialogue
between stakeholders, including herders, management
authorities, scientists and representatives of industrial com-
panies. Scientists should provide solid data on trends for the
whole arctic fox population and investigate the role of subsi-
dies and their possible mitigations together with representa-
tives from industry. Together with the herders, researchers
should obtain quantitative estimates of the losses of reindeer
calves due to predation. Based on these data, appropriate
management actions can be developed. Local culling of arc-
tic foxes by herders in the calving area prior to calving may
be recommended as a measure to protect reindeer. Arctic
fox fur use could be encouraged also for other purposes,
such as for the production of souvenirs. Controlling manage-
ment actions have to be followed up by careful monitoring
to assess whether it has the desired effect and to adjust it in
order to both protect the calving of the reindeer and avoid
an unnecessarily large impact on the fox population. At the
same time, we recommend that industrial companies and
European Journal of Wildlife Research (2021) 67:52
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Page 11 of 13 52
other tundra entities, which may produce food subsidies for
scavengers, organize more careful storage and disposal of
waste and provide educational measures and penalties for
shift workers to mitigate the problem.
Using an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the
context of this emerging predation problem in the Arctic,
we showed how different factors may have come together
to create a problematic situation. The understanding of the
reindeer herders that was communicated in the interview
provided new information and suggested new avenues for
continued research by ecologists. Thus, our study dem-
onstrated the importance of including local knowledge in
science related to nature management. Moreover, the case
of the arctic foxes from Yamal highlights the necessity of
taking into account points of view of the herders in order
to address a problematic change in their environments. We
hope that these findings will form the basis for future inves-
tigations and dialogues between stakeholders, and thus con-
tribute to a solution for good future coexistences of reindeer,
herders and arctic foxes.
Supplementary information The online version contains supplemen-
tary material available at https:// doi. org/ 10. 1007/ s10344- 021- 01497-z.
Acknowledgements We thank “Gaspromtrans“ company and NGO
Russian Center of Development of the Arctic to logistic help. We
are particularly grateful to the Community of the indigenous people
“Ilebts” and its Head Roman Okotetto and to the all Yamal reindeer
herders, with whom we were lucky to work. We also thank our col-
leagues Andrew Dixon and Peter Ungar for improving the language.
Funding This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for
Basic Research through grant # 18–05-60261, “Arctic Fox project” of
“Yamal LNG “ company, project “Yamal EcoSystem” (362259) from
the Terrestrial Flagship of the High North Research centre for Climate
and the Environment (Fram Centre).
Declarations
Human and animal studies All applicable international, national and/or
institutional guidelines for the social and animal studies were followed.
This research was permitted by the Ethics Commission of Institute of
Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
(Ethics approval number 3, May 25, 2020).
Conflict of interest The authors declare no competing interests.
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