Norway rebuilds fence to stop reindeers crossing border into Russia | World News

Norway is fixing a dilapidated fence along its border after dozens of reindeer were killed for crossing into neighbouring Russia.

Some four miles of the barrier – which spans 93 miles in total – between the Norwegian towns of Hamborgvatnet and Storskog will be replaced, the country’s agriculture agency said.

The project will cost 3.7m kroner (£274,000) and will be completed by October 1.

Reconstruction of the fence will be both challenging and demanding as workers will have to stay on the Norwegian side of the border ‘at all times’.

If a worker happened to cross into Russian territory without the appropriate visa, they would be seen as illegally entering the country.

Norway hopes the new fence will stop reindeer from wandering into Russia after officials say 42 of the animals have made the crossing this year.

Of these, 40 have been brought back but have since been slaughtered out of fear they may wander back to Russia.

The remaining two are expected to return home soon.

Each reindeer journey proves costly with Norway having to compensate Russia for loss of grassland due to the grazing animals. 

One such claim has demanded Oslo pay up nearly 50,000 kroner (£3,715) per reindeer that crossed the border into the Pasvik Zapovednik natural reserve.

Another file for compensation asks for a lump sum of nearly 47m kroner (£3.5m) to account for the days in which animals spent in the sprawling reserve.

The reindeer are herded by the Indigenous Sami people who settled in Arctic Europe some 9,000 years ago.

They traditionally live in Lapland – which stretches from northern parts of Norway through Sweden, Finland and to Russia.

Back in the UK, a pelican that escaped from a zoo was spotted swimming among swans at a pond 30 miles away – but escaped again before keepers could catch it.

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