Response to interpellation 2024/25:478 on the management of hit and killed reindeer
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerned the management of hit and traffic-killed reindeer. KD argues that reindeer are legally considered domestic animals and that the responsibility for the care of injured or killed reindeer lies with the relevant sameby 1. KD emphasizes that the focus lies on preventing collisions through Trafikverket's work with infrastructure, fences, and wildlife crossings 1. SD argues that dead reindeer often remain in place and create traffic hazards and sanitary inconveniences 2 3. SD requests measures to curb this and suggests that clearer sanction measures should be considered 3. SD also emphasizes that the problem contributes to prejudice and misunderstanding 4.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Mr. Speaker! Eric Palmqvist has asked me what measures I intend to take to clarify both the reindeer's status and the livestock owners' responsibility to handle injured and killed reindeer on or near our roads.
I am aware that traffic accidents involving reindeer have increased over the recent years in the same way as traffic accidents involving wildlife. The increase in the number of wildlife accidents over time has a statistically verified correlation with traffic growth. Often, several reindeer are killed at the same time.
The reindeer roams and behaves in the landscape like a wild animal. A search for reindeer following collisions in traffic resembles a search following a wildlife accident, but the administrative handling is not the same. In a legal sense, the reindeer is a domestic animal, and is therefore not covered by the rules in the Hunting Act (1987:259) regarding the search for traffic-injured wildlife. Reindeer are thus also not covered by the nationwide organization of search hunters that exists to handle wildlife that has been involved in a traffic accident. Unlike wildlife, the reindeer has an owner, and the responsibility for the handling of hit reindeer lies with the relevant sameby.
In 2020, Trafikverket presented the report Reindeer Husbandry and Infrastructure – Proposal for a Roadmap (2020:116), in which the agency describes how the issue of transport infrastructure and reindeer husbandry can be developed and managed overall. It identifies knowledge and development needs and proposes measures. The work also includes a knowledge review of the subject area, which is summarized in the report Reindeer Husbandry and Infrastructure – A Knowledge Compilation of Research and Development Projects (2020:117) which was presented the same year. Trafikverket has subsequently developed an updated routine for animal collisions on roads (TDOK 2023:0214) which applies to the entire country, which also details the handling of reindeer that have been injured or killed in traffic.
Trafikverket takes measures in the state infrastructure to prevent accidents involving animals. For example, existing fences are improved, new ones are built where the needs are greatest, and wildlife crossings are constructed that enable level crossings for reindeer and wildlife as well as for mobile outdoor life. In the report Account of the development of wildlife accidents (TRV 2021/147091:2), it appears that Trafikverket takes significant consideration also for the reindeer in its work with measures to prevent accidents between animals and motor vehicles as well as rail vehicles in the infrastructure. The samebys are also able to turn to Trafikverket with questions, views, and requests regarding measures to prevent traffic accidents with reindeer.
Mr. Speaker! Overall, I can state that there are no ambiguities regarding the reindeer's legal status and who is responsible for handling injured or killed reindeer. On the other hand, there is a need for continued improved coordination and work to reduce the number of collisions with reindeer and improve the practical handling of these. The Government will continue to follow Trafikverket's work in these matters.
Eric Palmqvist (SD)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer! It was also a rather exhaustive answer, which is not always the case. I would like to extend a special thanks to the Minister for that.
This is an issue that concerns not least my constituency Norrbotten, but one could say that it concerns all constituencies down to southern Dalarna. Every year, around 2,000 reindeer are killed by traffic in Sweden. In my home municipality, that stretch of road of nine miles between Skröven in the south and Moskojärvi in the north is where absolutely the most reindeer lose their lives.
Regardless of whether one is an animal lover, has an economic interest in the reindeer in the form of representing a sameby, or is a road user who wants to travel safely on the road and arrive home unharmed, the issue of reindeer on the road is a hostage. It is a risk in several ways, not least by the fact that reindeer – which I highlight in my interpellation – often remain on the road and generate or give rise to secondary accidents due to scavenging animals on or near the road. It is obviously something we must address.
I have never, during my previous years as a professional driver or during approximately one and a half decades as a resident of Norrbotten, seen a dead horse, a dead dog, a dead cow, or for that matter a dead moose lying by the road. It is such that the state's wildlife is usually taken care of, and for hit livestock or hit domestic animals, the animal owner has a responsibility. But just in the case of reindeer, they often remain there.
One can, as the Minister does, highlight the increased traffic as part of the problem. It is certainly true that increased traffic intensity has its part in this. But we also know that in northern Sweden, where there previously had not been a tradition of salting the roads, people have now started salting the roads – and the salt attracts the reindeer to the road. This is also an issue that should be addressed and evaluated.
I note that we actually have the same interest in this interpellation debate. The most important thing is to curb these accidents from occurring. There is a fine strategy, and there is an ambition with wildlife fences and so on. I applaud that. But ultimately, it is the case that there is traffic-injured reindeer that lie there for a long time and give rise to secondary accidents or the risk of secondary accidents and sanitary inconvenience. When they thaw out, a stench often spreads in the area. Loose dogs, hunting dogs and so on, are attracted by this. It is something that must be addressed.
Therefore, I wonder what the minister intends to do to curb the problem in addition to the preventive measures. I would like the minister to give an answer to that.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Mr. Speaker! As has been stated, we are aware of the problems that arise as a result of the increased number of traffic accidents involving reindeer. But to clarify further: that the responsibility for the management of hit reindeer lies with the relevant sameby is perfectly clear.
I assess that the most important thing to focus on is how we can prevent collisions. But we must also ensure that the samebyar can take their responsibility when the accident has nevertheless occurred.
It is downright utopian to believe that we can achieve a one hundred percent system free from accidents, even if the strive should obviously be towards that. How do you then achieve it? I believe it is through dialogue. Perhaps even by highlighting the problem in an interpellation debate in the Swedish Riksdag and that this becomes commonly known and clarified.
Mr. Speaker! Now I have gone through much of what is happening, but I still want to repeat that Trafikverket has in the near term conducted a knowledge review regarding how reindeer and reindeer husbandry are affected by roads and railways. A roadmap forward has also been presented in order for the development work with reindeer husbandry and transport infrastructure to become more systematic.
My focus, and the government's focus, is that we should work on preventing collisions and ensuring that the samebyar can take their responsibility when the accident has already occurred.
Eric Palmqvist (SD)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer.
It is the case that we in Sweden do not have any wild reindeer. That is something I personally regret, because I would like to see that we had the wild reindeer as a huntable game animal. Now, however, we only have domestic reindeer in Sweden. It is another matter that the reindeer of the large herd is perceived as a wild animal in that it lives in wild forms despite being owned by Sami in samebys.
Just as the Minister points out, reindeer are, in a legal sense, livestock, and the samebys are strictly legally responsible. Nevertheless, it is the case that besides fox, badger and other small game, it is only traffic-killed reindeer that are seen lying there for months along our roads. No other wildlife and no other livestock are seen along the roads when they have been hit, because there, there is a strict owner's responsibility.
I do not know what incentives are needed, and I am not saying that we Sverigedemokrater have a clear policy in this area, but I call for that people sit down and reflect on what can be done to curb this problem. It concerns quite a lot of animals every year, and this constitutes a traffic hazard for other road users even afterwards.
I am not saying that is the case, but could it be that when the reindeer is hit and no longer lives and can be slaughtered, it is no longer an economic interest for the sameby and that is why it is left there? I do not know. Somewhere, I think, at least, that perhaps some form of clearer sanction measure is needed when one lets an animal remain for a very long time along the road.
Compensation is actually paid out to the samebys for the hit reindeer. I do not think that is something we should question either, but I think it might be reasonable. But somewhere, that type of compensation also comes with a responsibility. Therefore, I want to ask the minister if, from his office and with his colleagues in the relevant committees, he can imagine working towards clearer sanction measures? I understand that it does not, of course, fall under the minister's office.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Mr. Speaker! The reindeer issues are on my desk. I want to begin by saying that I understand the frustration that exists regarding the practical handling of collisions with reindeer. Generally, traffic accidents both with reindeer and with other animals that move freely in nature – wild or not – are something we take seriously from several aspects. It is about road safety and, of course, also about an animal perspective.
Trafikverket was commissioned in 2022 to report on the development of wildlife accidents. Reindeer are included in that assignment. A clear connection can be seen with traffic growth, both regarding wildlife and reindeer. The design of the infrastructure and speed are also factors that have significance at a national level. At a local and regional level, the size of the wildlife populations and reindeer populations also obviously affects the number of accidents.
Trafikverket also takes significant consideration of the reindeer in its work with preventive measures. There is also a good exchange of information with the samebys. The government's hope is that this work will yield results.
Eric Palmqvist (SD)
Mr. Speaker! I would like to once again thank for the answer I have received from the Minister here today.
I think it is primarily a question of animal ethics. I am an animal lover. I do not like to see hit wildlife left behind to rot along the roadside – or in this case, livestock. I do not think it is particularly pleasant.
As the Minister surely knows, it is also the case that in northern Sweden there is a conflict of interest between samebys, the tourism industry, and a long line of other industries. There are conflicts of interest, and there are tensions. I imagine that this is one of those things that contributes to both prejudice and misunderstanding between ordinary people and the samebys. There must also be an interest from the samebys to access this. If not, it should at least be in the political interest to address this problem.
I do not know if both the stick and the carrot are needed, or if only the stick or only the carrot is needed. However, I am calling for some kind of solution to this problem, and I do not believe that it is entirely simple and crystal clear. Had it been, I might have presented a proposal to the Minister here today. I think this is something the Minister should take away, and when it comes to the infrastructure, he should perhaps take it with his colleagues in the relevant department. This is, after all, something that also concerns our railways.
With that said, I note that there is generally a consensus, and I thank you for today's debate on this issue. We shall see if the Minister thinks we should use the stick and/or the carrot to address the problem of dead reindeer along our roads in the north.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Mr. Speaker! The Government takes the risks resulting from traffic accidents with reindeer, as Eric Palmqvist points out, seriously. We see a need for continued improved coordination and work to reduce the number of collisions with reindeer and also to improve the practical handling when these nevertheless occur.
We will continue to follow, above all, the Swedish Transport Administration's work following the agency's reporting on the government mandate regarding the follow-up of traffic accidents.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for this evening's interpellation debate.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.