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.”
Reindeer Herders in the Russian Arctic
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Read moreA herd of reindeer stands inside an enclosure as herders select and sort them during sunrise in the settlement of Krasnoye in Nenets Autonomous District, Russia, on November 28, 2016. #
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Read moreA tent belonging to reindeer herders in the tundra area in Nenets Autonomous District, Russia, on November 27, 2016. #
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Read moreA herd of reindeer mills about in an enclosure as herders select and sort them in the settlement of Krasnoye, Russia, on November 29, 2016. #
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Read moreHerders select and sort reindeer in Krasnoye on November 29, 2016. #
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Read moreA girl watches herders sort reindeer on November 28, 2016. #
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Read moreA herd of reindeer gathered in the settlement of Krasnoye on November 28, 2016. #
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Read moreHerders use a saw to cut off a reindeer's antlers on November 29, 2016. #
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Read moreA pile of removed reindeer antlers, photographed on November 29, 2016. #
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Read moreFarm employees process reindeer carcasses in Krasnoye on November 29, 2016. #
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Read moreFarm employees process reindeer hides on November 29, 2016. #
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Read moreReindeer herders cook and have a meal inside a tent in the tundra area of the Nenets Autonomous District, Russia, on November 27, 2016. #
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Read moreAn Orthodox church in the settlement of Krasnoye on November 25, 2016. #
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Read moreA herd of reindeer await sorting in Krasnoye, Russia, on November 28, 2016. #
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Read moreA herder walks with a team of reindeer along the tundra area in the Nenets Autonomous District on November 27, 2016. #
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Read moreA herder stops for his reindeer to have a rest on November 27, 2016. #
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Read moreReindeer graze in the tundra at sunset on November 26, 2016. #
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Read moreA man stands on hill at a site believed to be holy by local residents, during the sunrise on November 26, 2016. #
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Read moreHerders select and sort reindeer inside an enclosure in the settlement of Krasnoye, Russia, on November 28, 2016. #
Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters
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