The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) is listed as a species of “least concern” on the Red List of Threatened Species of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). It is distributed in the northern part of China and semi-domesticated in the region. Here we present a comparison of the historical and current distribution and numbers of reindeer in China, as well as an assessment of the factors limiting population growth. Based on this information we explore potential protective measures for reindeer in China. 
 
 The reindeer has been herded extensively by the Ewenki people, the only people to do so in China. Reindeer in China originated from the Wenduosenlin tundra highlands of Siberia. Capable of migrating more than 3000 km/year, the reindeer moved from the highlands to the Weitimu river during the 16th century and on to the Northeast area of China in 1654. Since 1957, 600 reindeer have settled in Qiqian in Inner Mongolia, and from 1965 more than 900 reindeer migrated from there to Mangui. In response to frequent flooding and a fluctuating reindeer population in the Mangui region, in 2003 the Ewenki people and more than 260 reindeer translocated from there to Aoluguya. 
 
 Currently, eight meta-populations of reindeer comprising 773 individuals inhabit in the Arctic region of China. The reindeer population peaked in the 1970s at more than 1080 animals, but declined markedly from 1998 onwards mainly as a result of inbreeding, poaching, predation and tourism. The Chinese government's interest in wildlife protection is increasing, as evidenced by the introduction of wildlife protection laws and regulations, the importation of new reindeer varieties from Russia and the joining of the Association of World Reindeer Herders. However, natural reserves and national parks have still not been established within the reindeer's range in China to conserve this fragile population. ||||| Reindeer populations worldwide have decreased markedly since 1998, a new study says. Photo by Grigorii Pisotsckii/Shutterstock. 
 
 BEIJING, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Reindeer populations across the globe are decreasing due to inbreeding and poaching, researchers at a university in China said. 
 
 A study published in the Journal for Nature Conservation focused on two subspecies -- tundra reindeer and woodland reindeer -- which have declined in population by at least 28 percent since the 1970s. The decline increased markedly in 1998. 
 
 "In northern Europe (such as in Finland, Sweden and Norway), Asia (Russia, Mongolia and China) and North America (Canada and Alaska), reindeer populations have been declining for many years," lead author Xiuxiang Meng told Discovery News. 
 
 The study, written by researchers from China's Renmin University School of Environment and Natural Resources, blamed the population decrease on six factors, including inbreeding, poaching, natural predators, lack of herders and breeders, climate change, and changes to the tourism industry. 
 
 "Bears, wolves and lynx are the three main predators of reindeer, and may kill as many as a third of reindeer calves each year," the report says. 
 
 "The semi-domesticated (reindeer) population in China, Mongolia and Russia -- and especially China -- should be given enough concern by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Red List," Xiuxiang said. "Our survey showed that the reindeer in China comprise the southernmost reindeer population in the world, which is so important to the distribution and conservation of reindeer worldwide." ||||| In what has been called a "bloodbath," a total of 106 Norwegian reindeer on their winter migration have been killed by freight trains in the north of the country since Wednesday, Norway's public broadcaster NRK said late on Sunday. 
 
 Sixty-five animals were mown down on a track on Saturday, and another 41 between Wednesday and Friday, NRK said. 
 
 The owner of the 65 dead reindeer, Ole Henrik Kappfjell, described the killings to NRK as "a senseless animal tragedy ... a psychological nightmare." 
 
 The reindeer deaths come as herders take the animals on a search for winter grazing grounds. The annual journey often proves dangerous, with many of the reindeer hit by cars or trains, or dying by drowning. 
 
 Read more: More than 300 reindeer killed by lightning storm in Norway 
 
 Watch video 04:13 Share Endangered fjords in Norway Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink http://p.dw.com/p/2URnJ Endangered fjords in Norway 
 
 'Unprecedented' numbers 
 
 More than 2,000 reindeer were hit and killed along the same northern stretch of railway line between 2013 and 2016. One herder, Torstein Appfjell, however, told The Associated Press that the number of reindeer killed in recent incidents was "unprecedented." 
 
 Documentary filmmaker Jon Erling Utsi, who took photographs of the dead reindeer from Saturday's incident, called it a "bloodbath," adding that some animals did not die directly and had to be shot to put them out of their suffering. 
 
 Watch video 04:13 Share Effects of Global Warming in Norway Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink http://p.dw.com/p/2n7Rm Effects of Global Warming in Norway 
 
 Norway has a reindeer population of around 250,000, with most of them living in the country's far north. 
 
 Herders have called on the railway operator Bane NOR to install a fence along the track, but so far there has been no funding for it. According to the VG newspaper, however, the company has instructed its trains to drive more slowly in the area. 
 
 Read more: Reindeer shortage: Will climate change ruin Christmas? 
 
 Watch video 02:11 Share Finland: Climate change threatens reindeer Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink http://p.dw.com/p/2ayO4 Finland: Climate change threatens reindeer 
 
 tj/rt (AP, AFP) ||||| Beijing (CNN) Native to a remote region of China, this tiny mammal, known as the Ili pika, doesn't know it's a member of an endangered species -- and neither do most people. 
 
 Li discovered the pika, formally known as Ochotona iliensis, in 1983 and named it after his hometown, Ili. 
 
 Last July, Li spotted and photographed the elusive creature for the first time since the early 1990s. He estimates its numbers have declined by almost 70% since its discovery. 
 
 "I discovered the species, and I watched as it became endangered," he told CNN. 
 
 "If it becomes extinct in front of me, I'll feel so guilty." 
 
 In 2008, the animal was listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature but there's no official organization or team dedicated studying or protecting it, according to Li. 
 
 Shrinking habitat 
 
 The Ili pika photographed by Li Weidong in July 2014. 
 
 The mammal, only 20 centimeters long, lives on sloping bare rock faces and feeds on grasses at high elevations. Li says the pika's habitat has been affected by global warming. 
 
 Due to rising temperatures, glaciers have receded and the altitude of permanent snow has risen in the Tianshan mountains, forcing the pikas to gradually retreat to mountain tops, Li said. 
 
 Ili pikas were originally found at elevations between 3,200 to 3,400 meters, he said. Now they have retreated to elevations of 4,100 meters. 
 
 "They have nowhere else to retreat," he added. 
 
 It's also a solitary animal and is not as vocal as other pika species, so if predators are near, Ili pikas are not able to alert each other, Li said. 
 
 Disease may also be a factor in its decline. 
 
 Empty handed 
 
 In 1983, when Li first came across the mammal, nobody knew what it was. Two years later, Li found another two and it was declared a new species. 
 
 In the decade following, Li and his colleagues conducted a number of studies, including a census at 14 different sites. 
 
 The pika may have inspired the famous Pokemon character, Pikachu. 
 
 However, in 1992, Li left Ili to work with Xinjiang Academy of Environmental Protection in the regional capital Urumqi. 
 
 No studies were conducted on Ili pika in the following decade. No one saw the pika, either. 
 
 In 2002 and 2003, Li, with a team of volunteers, conducted a fresh census. Despite spending 37 days searching the mountains for the pikas on seven separate trips, they came up empty handed. 
 
 However, by analyzing droppings and snow tracks, Li, along with Arizona State University biologist Andrew Smith, was able to conclude that the Ili pika population had seen a dramatic decline. Together they calculated that there might be 2,000 mature animals, down from 2,900 in the early 1990s. 
 
 The research, published in 2005, recommended that the animal should be listed as endangered. 
 
 'Magic rabbit' 
 
 In 2007, Li retired early to throw himself into searching for the pika. 
 
 Scientist Li Weidong points to where he and his team spotted the Ili pika in July 2014. 
 
 Last year, he organized a group of 20 volunteers to conduct another survey with infrared cameras. 
 
 This time, on the second day of the field trip, they finally spotted a pika, who jumped and stepped over Li's feet while he was trying to photograph it. The volunteers dubbed it a "magic rabbit." 
 
 They concluded that there were fewer than 1,000 Ili pikas, said Li. 
 
 "This tiny species could be extinct any time," he said. "They don't exist in the sites where they used to be anymore." 
 
 Li funds the research with himself, along with donations and occasional grants from organizations like the World Wide Fund for Nature 
 
 He says he has spent more than $32,000 of his own money over the past three decades and he has to raise funds to pay for gas. 
 
 But what upsets Li most isn't the lack of funding. It's the lack of official recognition for the Ili, and other pikas' plight. 
 
 The Ili pika isn't included on China's List of Wildlife under Special State Protection -- part of the country's 1988 Wildlife Protection Law. 
 
 The Department for Wildlife and Forest Plants Protection, under the Ministry of Forestry, said it was in the process of updating the list but declined to give any further details. 
 
 Li and his volunteers have been calling for the establishment of a nature reserve to help protect the animal. 
 
 "I'm almost 60, and soon I won't be able to climb the Tianshan Mountains," he said. 
 
 "So I really hope that an organization will have people study and protect the Ili Pika."
– The iconic reindeer is in peril, according to a new study analyzing population trends in China. While their numbers have been in decline for decades, dropping by at least 28% since the 1970s, the rate of decline has increased dramatically since 1998, reports UPI. The study, published in the Journal for Nature Conservation, puts the number of reindeer in the "Arctic region of China" at 773; the 1970s peak was 1,080. The researchers point to six factors contributing to the sinking numbers there: inbreeding, poaching, natural predators, lack of herders and breeders, climate change, and changes in the tourism industry. Another researcher adds disease to the list. They say the IUCN Red List Data on reindeer is out of date; the animals are still listed under their 2008 classification as being of "least concern." The China population is the southernmost in the world, reports Discovery News, and that designation makes it especially "important to the distribution and conservation of reindeer worldwide," says the lead author. The researchers would like to see China establish nature reserves and parks within the animals' natural habitat as a conservation method. (One way reindeer are better coping with climate change in the Arctic? Castration.)