Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources

Arctic Ungulate Conference

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On 12 to 16 August 2019 in the Swedish Jokkmokk, which is located above the Arctic Circle, the 15th Arctic Ungulate Conference orientated to farmed ungulates in Artic regions took place. The 15th AUC is the next in a series of quadrennial conferences arranged by the Arctic Ungulate Society (www.arcticungulate.org) in collaboration with national/local organisers. The conference was organized by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala and the Arctic Ungulate Society (www.arcticungulate.org). Co-organizers of the congress were the Ájtte Sami and Mountain Museum in Jokkmokk, the National Union of the Swedish Saami People (SSR), the Swedish Sami Parliament and the Nordic Centre of Excellence ReiGN-Reindeer Husbandry in a Globalizing North.

The Jokkmokk is important centre (the biggest city) situated just north of the polar circle and an important heart of reindeer husbandry in the Swedish part of Sapmi. It has been the meeting place for Sami people and others for at least 400 years. Each year in beginning of February Jokkmokk holds one of the world's oldest winter markets.

Participants form Fennoscandia, Russia, Poland, Greenland, Iceland, USA, Canada and our group from Slovakia: prof. Radovan Kasarda, prof. Anna Trakovická, doc. Radoslav Židek and Ing. Nina Moravčíková attended the AUC. The AUC conferences focus on research issues mainly related to reindeer, caribou and muskox in a broad perspective of nutrition, technology, reproduction, demography, genetics as well as predation. Part of the programme was presentation of traditional way of life of Sámi people and excursion to the national park Laponia World Heritage in Stora Sjöfallet/Stuor Muorkke. It is interesting that traditional farming of Reindeer and its migration routes are part of the country biodiversity protection and cultural heritage of Sámi people. We have presented Genetic Variation of family Cervidae based on cross-species SNPs genotyping a Gene-flow and diversity in local Red Deer populations papers and invited to participate to World Deer Congress 2020 which will be held in Slovakia.

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