Police in Russia's Arctic regions have found a new way to get around - reindeer.
The ministry of the interior is considering an application from police in the Yamalo-Nenets area of the far north for reindeer as transport, according to The Telegraph.
"Criminals go into hiding in the tundra and hard-to-reach places on their own reindeer sleds and officers don't always have the means to follow them there," a police source said, according to The Telegraph. "The same problem arises with delivering suspects to the station."
"We already have snowmobiles but you have to understand that they are machines," said Irina Pimkina, a police spokesperson, according to The Telegraph. "A snowmobile can break down or get stuck in the tundra, but a reindeer keeps running. Reindeer would be useful for beat officers who patrol far-off areas."
Reindeer aren't just for Christmas for indigenous people in the "High Latitudes," like the Nenets. The beasts provide meat and skins to make clothes and tents. They also tow sleds, according to The Telegraph.
Police claim they need the reindeer because so many indigenous criminals know how to hide in the frozen tundra, where temperatures can drop to as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit).
The Telegraph did not verify that claim, but it did note that the indigenous herders, who have problems with alcohol and violence, have been traditionally faced with discrimination and maltreatment. "During the Soviet period, reindeer herds were collectivized and shamanism was repressed," wrote The Telegraph.
