Video Credit: CEN/@yamal-region.tv
Story By: Anastasia Smirnova, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder,Agency: Central European News
This is the moment around 3,000 reindeer hold up the traffic on a Siberian motorway sparking festive chaos for motorists.
The unusual sight took place on a motorway between the towns of Salkhard and Nadym in the north-central Russian region of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
The incident was filmed by a Russian journalist who said it took around 15 minutes for the reindeer to be herded on the motorway as drivers waited patiently for them to cross.
Reports said there were around 3,000 reindeer in total that were being herded by indigenous Nenets people.
Some netizens joked that the video might be useful for insomnia sufferers.
Netizen ‘Nikifor Solovey’ said: “I need this video for every time I can’t fall asleep.”
‘Aleksandra Filippova’ commented: “This is so beautiful.”
‘Lyuska Pirogova’ wrote: “Looks like all these animals are on their way to a deer beauty pageant.”
Reindeer herding is a traditional occupation in several northern Russian regions including Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug where the footage was shot.
It is a nomadic profession as the animals need to regularly migrate to new grazing areas.
According to local media, there are around 2.5 million domesticated and semi-domesticated reindeer that support the livelihood of around 100,000 herders around the world.
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug is said to be home to around 760,000 reindeer.
The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
