From December 9 to January 9, Elmo, the forest reindeer of the Riga Zoo, invited visitors to discover the secrets of the nocturnal animal world at the “Winter Night” event every evening. During this time, everyone could pay for the lichen dinner of the reindeer family by donating 20 EUR and, at the end of the event, participate in the drawing of Elmo’s mighty horns. Each donation corresponded to a date in the “Elmo’s feast calendar” and the donor could read his name on the corresponding day on a stand near the paddock where the reindeer feasted on their treat every night. Since this calendar is “filled” until April 16, every day from now on, but now at 13.30, everyone can make sure of the animals’ good appetite and find out the name of the donor. (https://rigazoo.lv/lv/atbalsti/ziedo-ziemelbriedim-elmo)
In total, during this time, 110 donations were received for a total amount of 2560 EUR, thus providing Elmo’s family with the delicacy brought from Finland for 128 days – so 128 tickets were placed in the raffle cup. The lucky date chosen by the head of the Nagaino zoo’s department of animals, Yulia Lauberte, turned out to be January 13, when Jolanta Sbitneva will “lay the table” for the reindeer. It is planned that the Sbitnev family will receive the Elmo horns ceremoniously on January 13 at 1:30 p.m. at the reindeer enclosure.
Video plot of the draw here: https://youtu.be/k6dQCNh4j-Y
For the nine-year-old forest reindeer Elmo, these were most likely the biggest antlers in his life and their total weight is exactly seven kilograms. It is significant that the “master” of the four reindeer dropped his powerful antlers on the night of December 24. Even in the wild, male reindeer welcome Christmas without antlers. Maybe to make it easier to pull Santa’s gift sleigh…
The forest reindeer seen in the Riga Zoo belong to the subspecies (Rangifer tarandus fennicus), which is seriously endangered in the wild and can only be found in a few places in Finland and Karelia. In order to coordinate and monitor the breeding of forest reindeer in zoos, the European program for the breeding of this species (EEP) has been established, which successfully includes the Riga Zoo. The proof of this is that out of four of our reindeer, three were born and raised here.
The successful maintenance of reindeer in the zoo is inextricably linked to the supply of lichen, the necessary food for this species. The order for the necessary quantity must be placed at the Finnish company Kellon Lavapuutarha two years in advance, so that the nursery can plan the managed areas. The herd of five reindeer in the Riga Zoo needs more than a ton of well-dried and compressed lichen per year. During the winter, each animal eats almost a kilogram of valuable food every day. It is prepared the day before, abundantly sprinkled with warm water, so that the dry mass relaxes and resembles a natural, growing lichen. In addition, each animal also receives branches, hay and 1.3 kilograms of complex feed pellets Poro Elo1Rae. Of course – I would buy it in Finland…
