Meeting Reindeer in the Cairngorms, Scotland
On a recent trip to Scotland, I expected to see fluffy Highland cows, stunning lochs, and historical castles. I did not expect to spend two hours literally walking among a herd of reindeer, but that’s exactly what happened!
The Cairngorms National Park is the UK’s largest national park at a whopping 1,748 square miles (4,528 square kilometers) - approximately the size of Glacier National Park in Montana! My family and I visited the park for an afternoon, planning to do a 3-4 mile hike to An Lochan Uaine (the Green Loch). However, as we got closer to the trailhead, we realized we were right next to the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre! We went into the visitor center and spontaneously decided to join one of the “hill trips,” a 20-minute hike to the reindeer herd followed by a long meet and greet with the reindeer (including a short feeding session)! We were lucky to get any spots, as these usually have to be booked at least a month in advance at this time of year.
Photo Credit: Hailey Robe
Note: The herd we would meet is usually separated into three groups that are rotated in and out of the paddock, with the others being transported to other locations for mating, grazing, and/or free ranging; there are about 150 total individuals across all groups.
40 minutes later, we met our guide, Kate, and long-time volunteer, Em, at the trailhead and started up the mountain! It was a pretty short hike with a couple steeper sections and incredible views.
Photo Credit: Hailey Robe
Once we made it to the top, Kate went over a couple ground rules: while we would be able to hand-feed the reindeer once, the rest of the time was hands-off (both for our safety and the comfort of the reindeer). These reindeer are acclimated to human presence, but are still wild animals, and the centre would like to keep it that way! We passed through three separate gates on our way to visit the herd; the first gate kept the reindeer in their huge enclosure, the second gate separated the new mothers and calves from the rest of the herd, and the third allowed us access to the main herd.
We walked along a wooden boardwalk through the gates, and, as we had been warned, the reindeer hopped right up on the boardwalk with us! We were told to keep walking, as reindeer are herd animals, and they will stop if we stop - possibly resulting in traffic jams. However, the reindeer just fell into line with the rest of the people on the trip, and walked to the end of the boardwalk with us!
Photo Credit: Hailey Robe
Seeing them for the first time was surreal. On one hand, they were smaller than I expected, only a little larger than a female mule deer - maybe they are larger in the far northern herds? But they were absolutely beautiful, curious, and social, interested in the food Kate carried but indifferent to us visitors. Kate pointed out males, females, and yearlings, reminding us that the new calves (some as young as two days old!) were with their mothers in the adjoining paddock, separated from the rest of the herd and from visitors until they were a little older. Kate and Em knew the reindeer by name, describing their unique personalities and telling us stories about them.
We learned that, while reindeer had once been prevalent in northern Scotland, hunting and habitat loss caused their extirpation. This herd was reintroduced in __, and now consisted of approximately 150 individuals, which is the ideal population size for management by the Reindeer Centre. They aim to have a herd large enough to be resilient and diverse, but small enough to monitor each individual closely, get to know them, and provide care as needed.
When it was time to feed the reindeer, Kate emptied the bag of food out in a long line to encourage the reindeer to disperse a bit - this would make hand-feeding them their treats easier, since they wouldn’t be crowded together. After the reindeer ate, the visitors spread out in a line too, and Em gave us each a handful of food to give to whichever reindeer approached us. We were told to keep our arms straight while feeding them, as some of the reindeer already had extremely big antlers even in May - keeping our arms straight kept them at more of a distance, reducing our changes of being hit by the antlers of a particularly enthusiastic reindeer!
Photo Credit: Hailey Robe
The reindeer wandered over, some more motivated by food than others, but they were never forced to get close to visitors. The reindeer who felt like it came over to us, eating the food right out of our hands! I think I fed two reindeer total, but many of them nudged at my hands in search of crumbs. We were told to show them our outstretched, empty palms when we were done, so they wouldn’t get overexcited and pester us! Their noses were one of the softest things I have ever felt, and feeding them was truly a special, once-in-a-lifetime experience.
After feeding the reindeer, Kate and Em let people disperse and take pictures, or stick around and ask questions. I discussed the calving season with Em, who told me that while other deer species commonly have twins, this is rare for reindeer, who usually only have one calf at a time. Staff and volunteers at the reindeer centre get to be closely involved to ensure that both mom and calf are healthy, including bottle-feeding the babies to supplement their nutrition as needed! The new calves aren’t named yet, because the staff want to get to know their personalities better first; however, a new naming theme is picked each year. Past themes include: beans and legumes (featuring a reindeer named Jelly, for “jelly bean”!), types of hats, and fictional characters.
Photo Credit: Hailey Robe
I had a wonderful conversation with Kate as well, who was kind enough to let me pester her with questions about reindeer in the wild, the reindeer herds in Scotland, wildlife disease, and wildlife management in the UK!
We spent 1.5-2 hours with the reindeer in total, which was so much more than I had expected. I am so grateful to our wonderful guides and to the Cairngorms Reindeer Centre for the experience!
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