The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd

The only reindeer herd to be found in the UK

Reindeer will always make me think of Christmas. I think it will for lots of us of course, with reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh every single year, and being a usual animal that we see as ornaments, and on Christmas cards and wrappings.

The last records of a wild British reindeer go back almost 1,000 years ago because of climate change and the habitat just not being suitable for reindeer to thrive. But in 1952, a man and wife duo called Mikel Utsi and Dr. Ethel Lindgren co-founded the Reindeer Company and introduced reindeer in the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland after seeing how the sub-arctic qualities of the Cairngorms were a perfect home for reindeer - especially the found sources of ground, rock and tree lichens (a reindeer’s favourite food).

The Reindeer Herd are still going strong to this day with over 150 individuals roaming freely over 10,000 acres in the mountainsides. It is the only place left in the UK that can support reindeer. And I see the herd every year, thanks to the paddocks and hill trips of The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd. A group of amazing people who tenderly care for the herd, making sure they roam free and are looked after, and who also name every single individual with very unique names (and they know them all!)

Deer are common in Scotland, mostly Red Deer and Roe Deer. Unfortunately due to a broken ecosystem, there are too many deer which has caused severe overgrazing in much of the land. No predators are maintaining the deer numbers, we don’t have Lynx, Wolves and Bears in Scotland. But I do love seeing deer. Roe Deer are the local ones that I usually see on some of my walks. Red Deer are mostly in the Scottish Highlands, where plenty can be found in Glencoe. I just love visiting the Cairngorm Reindeer. It feels special.

Back in November, I was in Aviemore in Scotland for the week for rest and wild adventures. I’d already booked a Hill Trip with the Herd and was patiently waiting for the Thursday morning.

On the Hill Trip, you wait at an off-road car park in the Glenmore Forest Park, adequately named The Sugarbowl. From here, two guides take you deep into the Park, away from the noise of the road and up towards the herd. There is a bridge on the way called Utsi’s Bridge, named after Mikel Utsi. He built the original bridge but it was washed away in 1979 and was replaced soon after. Further up the hill, we got to a gate and were told the herd was on the other side. And much to my delight, a cheeky young reindeer was patiently waiting at the gate, knowing a treat was coming her way. The two guides laughed, saying someone was keen. They explained that as we walked into the herd’s territory, they’d know they were being fed ‘some gentle persuasion’ and would come over and walk alongside us. I never thought I’d be gently prodded on my backside by the antler of a baby reindeer trying to get me to move faster. But that’s now a moment added to my list. The baby reindeer is in the video below!

Reindeer are beautiful and such gentle animals. They’re so calm around humans, they know they are safe. Each has a name, a quirky personality and some very impressive antlers. Both male and female reindeer have antlers, but the males usually lose their antlers in the winter. So yes, female reindeer pull Santa’s sleigh every Christmas Eve!

On the trip, you are allowed to hand-feed the reindeer a special mix of grains that the two guides haul up the hill. The reindeer have very squishy noses. In 2022 I fed a reindeer who was called Pagan, and my partner’s was called Minsk. We didn’t find out the names of the ones we fed this time, but they were lovely all the same.

Every single reindeer is given a name and each year the newborns are named after a theme. There are so many of them now. Some are named after ice creams, like Wafer, Vanilla and 99. There is a Movern, Pinto, Mochi, Pavlova, Gazelle, Aztec, Beanie, Oatcake, Beret, Elbie, Kipling, and a Dr Seuss (who has very big antlers). I highly recommend following them on Instagram, where so many delightful named reindeer are shared.

There were so many calves who stuffed their bellies full of barley and wheat and fell asleep in the tundra.

My only gripe was the large number of other people on the hill trip who insisted on forcing their cameras and phones into the faces of the reindeer. Getting too close to their antlers, surrounding them, boxing them in, and trying their hardest to get selfies. As much as I love taking photos of wildlife and admiring their beauty, I do so with a telephoto lens which means I am at a very safe distance from the animals. The reindeer were fine being hand-fed as it is something they are used to, and it’s a free meal. But they didn’t look too fine with iPhones in their faces and bright flashes from cameras in their eyes.

But other than that, the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd are magic. They are still going strong and the love and admiration for the workers who look after the herd is just phenomenal. A Cairngorm Reindeer Herder is kind of my dream job.

If you are in Scotland, whether you live here already or are coming over for a holiday, you should go and see the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd. Their Hill Trips are excellent. They are currently re-building their paddock space in the Glenmore Forest Park, but the Hill Trips are still available every single day.

Have you ever seen a reindeer?

Take care,
Rebecca