Climate-sick reindeer: developing model-based decision support tools to inform veterinary interventions for brainworm in managed reindeer

Reindeer herding is central to indigenous Sami culture, identity, and food security. Sustainable herding practices with high levels of animal welfare require up to date knowledge about disease and changing disease risk throughout the year. The nomadic transhumance movement of herds between seasonal grazing areas exposes them to a potentially wide range of pathogens. Some, including the parasite Elaphostrongylus rangiferi (brainworm, causing elaphostrongylosis), are closely linked to climatic factors including temperature and precipitation. Under the right climatic conditions explosive development of infectious larvae in the snail intermediate hosts can result in large disease outbreaks in reindeer.

Outbreaks associated with warmer weather have had a devastating impact on some reindeer herds in recent years and the herders need advice on treatment and on alternative strategies to prevent future outbreaks. Treatment options are limited and time-sensitive - once clinical signs are seen, it is too late. Models that predict exposure of reindeer to infection could allow herders to identify the optimum timing of treatment, movement to new pasture to avoid infection, or altered slaughtering strategies, thus reducing the risk and impact of outbreaks significantly. Such a model would give the Sami herders a much-needed tool to help mitigate a negative impact of climate change on traditional reindeer herding practices and food security.

The project builds on a previous pilot project which developed two candidate models but identified significant knowledge gaps that currently prevent us developing decision-support tools for the Sami herders from these models. Your aim will be to develop a prototype online decision-support tool (such as https://www.scops.org.uk/forecasts/nematodirus-forecast/) by addressing these knowledge gaps and improving and testing our existing models.