TO most of us reindeer are a symbol of Christmas, with the majestic beasts famed for being Santa’s trusty helpers.
But sickeningly, to others they are merely seen as prized conquests of brutal hunting trips.
Despite being classified as vulnerable, trophy hunters think nothing of paying thousands to stalk and shoot reindeer before showing off their kills in grisly blood-stained photos.
Here, we take a closer look inside the gruesome industry.
On one hunting website seven hunts are advertised, organised by Baikal Royal Safari, with prices starting from £1,462 for a seven day reindeer trip to Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia.
There, guests can hunt reindeer as well as a variety of other animals.
On top of the package price, guests must also pay for additional extras including gun rental, trophy shipment, £90 a day for an interpreter and taxidermist work, or for £5,000 guests can get a discounted package deal.
For that price, guests are “treated” to a 10-day trip in Russia, currently rated nine out of 10 stars by reviewers, with one confessing the excursion is of a “brutal nature”.
Another hunt, which would set back hunters £6,000, allows the opportunity to stalk moose too.
As a selling point, the website features grisly pictures of a hunter posing in the snow with a dead reindeer, whose blood-soaked red nose puts a sick twist on the traditional festive tune.
Another image on the company’s Instagram page shows a Christmas tree made from dozens of slain reindeer antlers, with a skull placed on the top.
Baikal Safari says its team are “big patriots of the small country”, enthusiastic in their profession and “the idea of preserving the natural resources of Lake Baikal”.
Scotland’s premier sporting agency Hendry, Ramsay and Waters offer trips to Norway to shoot reindeer, with prospective hunters provided prices upon application.
Their website insists: “Our partners around the world operate to the same standards and where big game is concerned hunting is always ethical and sustainable.”
It operates in the Breheimen and Jotunheimen national parks which they claim hold Europe’s last surviving population of wild reindeer, hunted there since the Ice Age.
It states: “Only a few licences are available for big males, so this hunt is very exclusive and the season very short.
“The landscape is breathtaking moorland framed with mountainous peaks reaching 2,500 metres above sea level.”
Unsurprisingly, the “sport” has faced huge opposition from animal rights organisations.
Speaking to The Sun Online, Eduardo Goncalves, founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, said: “These sick serial animal killers have just ruined Christmas for children everywhere.
“What could be more Christmassy than a reindeer? Every mum and dad will tell you it’s one of the things that excites kids most at this time of year.
“Now, though, instead of thinking about Rudolph and his red nose, children will think of Rudolph lying dead in the snow.
Instead of thinking about Rudolph and his red nose, children will think of Rudolph lying dead in the snow
Eduardo Goncalves
“Reindeer may go extinct if things carry on as they are. They have already died out in parts of Lapland.
“Numbers of reindeer are going down and scientists say hunting is at least partly to blame.
“Is there nothing that these thrill-seekers won’t kill for kicks? Is nothing sacred anymore?
“It’s absolutely disgusting that trophy hunting lobby groups like Safari Club International offer prizes to trophy hunters who shoot reindeer. What in God’s Earth makes killing a reindeer for fun worthy of an award?”
The Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting believes killing any animal for pleasure is cruel, unnecessary and has no place in a civilised society.
The organisation is calling for governments to ban it, along with the import and export of hunting trophies, and tough penalties for offenders.
Eduardo says: “The government says it plans to ban hunting trophies from some species. We need a total ban, though, to discourage these people from killing reindeer and other defenceless animals.
“The government won’t say when it plans to bring in the ban. What a great Christmas gift it would be for animals and people if they decided to do it right now. It would be the best Christmas present Boris could give us.”
The Sun Online has contacted Baikal Safari and Hendry, Ramsay and Waters for comment.
