Werd weer herinnerd aan dit vergelijkbare geval :
http://dieoff.org/page80.htm
THE INTRODUCTION, INCREASE, AND CRASH OF REINDEER ON ST. MATTHEW ISLAND
Laatste deel conclusie :
Citaat:
The large scale die-off of reindeer on St. Matthew Island during the winter of 1963 64 was apparently the result of a combination of the following factors: ( 1 ) overgrazing of lichens on the island, which are normally the most important winter forage, by the large numbers of reindeer; (2) excessive numbers of reindeer during the winter of the die-off competing for the very limited available forage; ( 3 ) the relatively poor condition of the reindeer going into the winter as a result of competition for high quality summer forage during the summer of 1963; and (4) extreme weather conditions, particularly deep snow accumulation, during the winter of 1963 64, further restricting the availability of the already depleted winter forage. These same factors, jointly operative, were apparently responsible for the reindeer die-off on the Pribilof Islands in the 1940's ( Scheffer 1951). That weather conditions were not the sole factor in the die-off of reindeer on St. Matthew Island is demonstrated by the good survival of the reintroduced reindeer on St. Paul Island during the same period (F. Wilke in correspondence 1966). Also, on Nunivak Island, although considerable mortality occurred among the reindeer there during the winter of 1983 64, no large die off resulted.
Food supply then, through interaction with climatic factors, was the dominant population-regulating mechanism for reindeer on St. Matthew Island. Other factors of population control, such as disease or parasites and predation, can be ruled out and there is insufficient evidence to suggest that self-regulatory mechanisms of a behavioral (Wynne-Edwards 1965), a genetic ( Chitty 1960 ), or a behavioral-physiological nature (Christian and Davis 1964) were involved in the dieoff.
Kan nog een paar jaar duren, maar dan is het met 1 echt strenge winter gedaan volgens mij.