From Iceland — Three Little Reindeer: Visiting East Iceland's Magical Reindeer Park

The thing I really loved about believing in Santa Claus was the idea that reindeer would land on our roof. It didn’t matter that our fireplace was non-functional and hidden behind furniture, when my mom would rattle those jingle bells at midnight, I was like “fuck yeah, Blitzen’s here!” (Rudolph is so overrated.)

So naturally, when I learned that there is a reindeer conservation park in East Iceland, I jumped at the chance to go meet some Dashers and Dancers and Donners.

Located in Fellabær, right on the edge of Egilsstaðir, the Reindeer Park is run by reindeer expert Björn Magnússon, who we met with along with his granddaughter, Kolbrún Edda (Edda) Jensen Björnsdóttir, also works at the park.

House of reindeer

The park began by happenstance in 2021, when two abandoned infant reindeer were found by snowmobilers travelling on Mount Snæfell and brought to Björn.

“They tried looking around and they didn’t find anyone or see any more reindeer, so they actually took them in their backpack and called my grandpa right away,” says Edda. “He came with milk right away because they won’t live for many hours without their mother. He lives in a small house in Egilsstaðir, so he just brought them home and they slept in his bathroom the first night. My grandmother didn’t love it.”

Those two calves were named Garpur and Mosi; they were three and ten days old, respectively, at the time they were found. At that age, they are smaller than a newborn lamb, but with slightly longer legs. They were found about 100 metres away from each other and Björn doubts they were siblings. Now three-years old, pair are full size old bulls, brimming with personality and vigour.

“If we forgot to close the front door, they were inside up on the sofa, ready to watch a movie.”

Luckily for all parties, Björn did not need to keep them cooped up in his bathroom for long, as Edda’s mother is the proprietor of a large tract of land where a couple of reindeer could grow up in style. She also owns and operates the Vínland Guesthouse, which flanks the reindeer’s enclosure, and graciously hosted us during our stay.

“We have this big forest so we brought them here and it was perfect,” says Edda. “They weren’t in fences or anything. They were just wandering around and if we forgot to close the front door, they were inside up on the sofa, ready to watch a movie.”

The reindeer dad

Björn was a farmer for 20 years and was always passionate about reindeer and their care. He learned traditional reindeer herding practices in Lapland with a Sámi family, including breeding and slaughtering. He also went to Scotland and Greenland, where he learned about reindeer tourism, as well as the Canadian Northwest Territories where he practised herding in the tundra between Inuvik and Tuktuyaaqtuuq.

The ingénue of the reindeer park is baby Hreindís, a three month old calf who was accidentally abandoned by her herd.

“A woman was hiking with her dog and it didn’t have a leash; when they saw the reindeer herd, the dog ran into it so they got scared away,” says Edda. “Hreindís was left behind. The woman called us right away. She waited to see if the herd would come back [but] they were a no show, so we took her in.”

Hreindís’ name was selected in a public vote and giveaway held over the Reindeer Park’s social media which drew in a huge response, with over two hundred name ideas submitted by the public. Admittedly, she was the entire reason I became aware of the park earlier this summer, having been caught up in the social media cuteness of the naming contest.

“A lot of people were suggesting the same names and Hreindís was the third most popular,” says Edda. “Our family all came together and went through the list. Hreindís was by far the most popular. It suits her so well and it’s so fun with the wordplay.”

“To replicate the high fat content of a reindeer milk, Björn makes his own concoction.”

When she arrived at the Reindeer Park in May, Björn resumed a gruelling feeding routine required to keep reindeer calf alive. To replicate the extremely high fat content of a reindeer cow’s milk, Björn makes his own concoction of high-fat dairy and protein, mixed fresh at every feeding time.

“Reindeer’s milk is twenty-two percent fat and cow’s milk is maybe four percent,” says Björn. “I give them a mix of cow’s milk, cream, AB milk, three goose eggs, a teaspoon of salt, one of fish oil and protein powder.”

Hreindís was fed this concoction every two hours for the first 24 days under Björn’s care, while Garpur and Mosi kept him waking up every couple of hours for two months. A small shed was built on the land where Björn could sleep right by the calves and be there around the clock, like a good parent. He’s now only needing to feed her every four hours, which allows him a bit more sleep at night.

Hunting and attitude

Ten years ago Iceland’s reindeer population counted around 7.000, but the most recent count conducted found only 3.900 remain. Reindeer hunting is still legal with a tight quota system, which Björn has a decidedly pragmatic view on.

“They are hunted too much in general and we need to stop hunting so many.”

“They are hunted too much in general and we need to stop hunting so many,” he says. “I think they should only allow males to be hunted and maybe only three to four hundred per year. It wouldn’t be good to stop because we can’t overpopulate the males. The Sámi herders I lived with in Lapland had only 14% males.”

Reindeer are highly personable animals that are for the most part very comfortable around humans and display a lot of individuality. Björn and Edda both have strong feelings about their characters.

“Garpur is very smart and strong, and Mosi is a bit temperamental and not as smart,” says Björn. He just wants to eat. Hreindís is very confident and independent and not as stuck to me as Garpur and Mosi.”

Getting to spend time in the reindeer’s open grazing ground was where we really got to see their characters come out. Björn and Edda led me and our photographer into the hectarage where the two bulls roam free, while extending a long rake between us and the reindeer to keep the boys in check.

No clashing antlers

“He likes Garpur more because he is so strong and big, but I like Mosi better because he’s so nice to me and I can just lay with him for hours,” says Edda. Björn adds that Garpur has tried to fight him, which he knew he had no chance at winning. Although I am making cutesy noises during my whole visit, when Garpur later bumps into me, the thought of him doing a full on “come at me, bro” is absolutely terrifying.

“When Garpur later bumps into me, the thought of him doing a full on “come at me, bro” is absolutely terrifying.”

Where reindeer-on-reindeer contact is concerned, Björn has already pre-selected which bull will be the stud to potentially mate with Hreindís. The other will be neutered in order to avoid any nonsense akin to what you see at 4:30 on a Saturday morning on Austurstræti.

“It’s quite a dangerous process, but we would probably [castrate] Mosi and then breed with Garpur, says Edda. “We could probably do it in maybe two years. It would both be so people can learn about reindeer and see calves because they’re so high up the mountains when they have their calves,”

What’s more, the reindeer at the park will never return to the full wilderness, as their acclimation to domesticity has changed their ability to survive out there. Also, it’s illegal.

“It could also be really dangerous because during mating season, they get really irritated,” says Edda. “They’ve grown so used to people that they just wander in some town and do some damage. We never know.”

Again, sounds like a certain type downtown after djammið.

Ultimately, it is clear that Björn and Edda have a deep and genuine connection with the reindeer who obviously know and trust them. Their facilities are immaculate and contain humans into a small space in order to give the reindeer their maximum roaming freedom. There is an overwhelming sense of respect and reverence for these majestic rangifers.

“We want to have a generation here and we would like to see them grow and be beautiful,” says Edda. “We love them.”