Concerns for the welfare of Santa's favourite sleigh pullers are mounting. In one corner of the far flung north, there is a small group of people who are prospering.
Warming temperatures are boosting plant growth and giving Svalbard reindeer more time to build up fat reserves; they also seem to be shifting their diet towards grasses that poke up through the ice and snow.
Smaller and plumper than their Lapplandish cousins, yet boasting impressive antlers, the Svalbard reindeer live in almost all non-glaciated areas of the archipelago.
In the past few years, rain-on-snow events have made it hard for reindeer to dig for food.
There are reports of mass reindeer starvations in Russia and declining caribou populations in Canada. Reindeer populations have flourished in the most productive areas of the archipelago.
Annual blood samples were collected in late winter as part of a long-term monitoring study to investigate what may be driving the population increase. The amount of carbon and nitrogen in the samples could be compared to see what plants the reindeer had been eating.
Between 1995 and 2012 there was a shift away from mosses and towards grass, according to research published in Global Change Biology.
Even though you might have a small amount of ice, the erect nature of the graminoid stems allows for the availability of food to the animals. You have the equivalent of popsicle sticks, which are a good source of nutrition for the animals.
The growth of graminoids is being boosted by higher soil temperatures and the amount of reindeer droppings on the ground.
Prof Jaakko Putkonen, a professor at the University of North Dakota, said that the news is positive. Nature is made up of interdependent variables. Some of the changes may be beneficial to the reindeer.
The reindeer have been avoiding those areas due to the growth of toxic moulds under the snow caused by the rain on snow. They may be trading challenges for each other.
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The events in Svalbard may not apply to other areas.
There are signs that a reindeer population on Svalbard may have some ways of adapting and adjusting to these changes that could allow them to sustain themselves.
It shows the complexity of the region. There are events happening in different places and they are not the same.
The future is bright for the reindeer and the archipelago is a good place to look for helpers. He might need to invest in a smaller sleigh.
Hiltunen said that they might be a little bit overweight. They wouldn't need so much fat to live if they lived with Santa.
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