Artist Supports Brother With Reindeer Skull Curtain

click to expand

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Sami artist from Norway's Arctic region is drawing attention to the country's policy to reduce the reindeer population.

In a display outside the country's parliament in Oslo, Maret Anne Sara has hung a curtain made of 400 bullet-ridden reindeer skulls.

She told Norwegian broadcaster NRK on Wednesday that the government's reindeer-reduction policy is "totally wrong and unfair." She was not immediately available for comment on Thursday.

The purpose of the policy is to prevent overgrazing of the tundra where Norway's estimated reindeer population of about 220,000 live.

She is supporting her brother, Jovsset Ante Sara, who has twice successfully legally challenged the order for him to cull 41 of his 116-head. He said he can't make a living if he has to reduce his herd.

The government is appealing.