Reindeer Herders on Record Wolf Attacks: Blame Russia

Reindeer are turning up dead in northern Finland, and one longtime herder thinks the trail leads all the way to the battlefields of Ukraine. In Kuusamo, near the Russian border, fourth-generation herder and tourism operator Juha Kujala says he now finds carcasses almost every day, mostly females that are vital for replenishing his herd, per CNN. Official figures back up his alarm: Finland's government has logged more than 2,000 wolf attacks on reindeer so far in 2025, nearly quadruple the number a decade ago and the highest since records began in 2013. The Reindeer Herders' Association says roughly 1,950 reindeer have been killed by wolves this year, up almost 70% from last year, turning what is both a cultural tradition and a tourism draw into a financially precarious business.

Scientists confirm that Finland's wolf population has surged, from fewer than 200 in 2018 to an estimated 430 this spring, the most in decades. Many Finns, including Kujala, believe a key driver lies across the 800-mile border with Russia: they argue that Russia's war in Ukraine has pulled hunters into the army, reducing pressure on predators and allowing more wolves, bears, wolverines, and lynx to spread west into Finnish Lapland. The Natural Resources Institute Finland has detected new DNA markers in wolf samples that suggest more animals are indeed coming from Russia, and senior scientist Katja Holmala calls the hunting-disruption theory "realistic," noting that bounties and hunting pressure in Russia were previously intense.

The link to the war is not proven; Russian records are opaque, and analysts caution that the narrative also fits a broader Finnish tendency to see troubles as emanating from Moscow. Still, intelligence specialist John Helin notes that economic incentives to join the military and falling unemployment in Russian border regions likely mean fewer people available for hunting and wildlife management. Meanwhile, Finland's government is moving forward with legislation to allow the hunting of wolves, a critically endangered species, citing the need to protect livelihoods in herding areas. Special licenses are already in use in reindeer country, where Kujala joins hunts and calls on world leaders to help end the Ukraine war he blames, in part, for his losses.