Science and Society

Winner: Meagan Flenniken, Cornell University
Reindeer Nutrition in the Mongolian Taiga: Advancing Community Development

The Tsaatan, an indigenous population in Mongolia's northernmost province, maintain their unique culture through nomadic reindeer husbandry. But recent socio-political transitions including former Soviet occupation, have resulted in a massive interruption of sustainable reindeer husbandry practices. The goal of this research is to gather data which can be used to inform reindeer management strategies among the Tsaatan so that overall herd nutrition can be improved. It is an attempt to re-acquire traditional knowledge lost during the 70 years of Soviet occupation using methods from animal sciences as well as ecology and microbiology. The underlying hypothesis of this study is that dietary requirements and forage availability/quality are unique to this herd. Existing knowledge about reindeer nutrition is not sufficient to inform updated management strategies for the Tsaatan. This research is a general survey of the range of Tsaatan grazing grounds with the goal of re-discovering what is available, when, where, it's quality and variation, and its nutritional value. By designing a forage survey which focuses on the availability and quality of forage, this research creates a body of knowledge from which the practical solutions to poor reindeer nutrition might be derived.