Reindeers belonging to Saami reindeer herders in Norway crossed the border to Russia in January and inflicted damage on the national park by eating and trampling down the unique vegetation in the park, Murmansk based TV channel TV21 reports.
The reindeers were driven back into Norway by joint efforts from Russian and Norwegian border guard soldiers.
Marina Trusova, Deputy Director of the national park Pasvik says to TV21 that the two countries ought to conclude an agreement on procedures and calculation of damages on the environment in cases like this. The border agreement from 1949 does not include cooperation on case of reindeer intrusion to Russia, she says.
In 2008, a herd of 300 reindeer crossed the border from Norway into the national park.
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