The Curator Got Run Over By a Reindeer

This Christmas, many zoos and aquariums are trying extra-hard to get into the holiday spirit, in no small part to help make up for the loss in revenue caused by COVID-19.  There are cookies with Santa, Chinese lantern festivals, and, of course, ZooLights at many institutions.  Many of these are events that zoos have done for years, though some are relatively recent additions meant to bolster attendance.

Growing up, one feature of the holidays that I loved at my zoo was the seasonal appearance of the reindeer.  Every December, a small herd of the domesticated cervids (caribou in North America, reindeer in Europe) would appear in our zoo's farmyard, on loan from a private owner who made part of their living by exhibiting the deer around Christmas time.   Other zoos and venues might add a Nativity scene with live animals - sheep, donkeys, camels - but reindeer are a popular seasonal hit.

This was back when I was a kid, and I don't see these seasonal reindeer displays happening too much anymore.  The big driver is probably concern about Chronic Wasting Disease, a fatal disease of deer, which many state wildlife departments live in terror of. As a result, it can be extremely difficult for zoos to move deer from one state to another, as biologists worry that the disease could spread into wild deer populations and decimate them.  Even without CWD concerns, there are potential quarantine headaches for moving a population of large mammals in and out of the collection for such a short time period.

There's also the little problem of where to put said deer.  Most zoos aren't going to just leave an exhibit empty for 11 months of the year just to have reindeer in December.  That means that the deer have to be put someplace when they arrive that may just be a temporary structure or pen.  The facility might not be as up to snuff as other large hoofstock facilities - for example, holding pens and shift areas might be lacking.  This can lead to some awkward, close-quarters action, up to and involving chasing and trampling, if the deer don't particularly want you in their pen.

There are some zoos that have reindeer on permanent exhibit year-round.  San Diego and Columbus are two that readily come to mind.  I've always enjoyed seeing them more in those settings, anyway.  I like to think of reindeer as a real animal - one with a wild range, natural foods and behaviors and predators, one that eats and mates and poops and sleeps - instead of a fictional character with a red light-up nose that exists only in December.