Even Reindeer

The Even breed is reared in the Taiga mountain districts of Yakutia and of Magadan and Kamchatka regions. The total number of Even reindeer is nearly 550,000.

In type, this breed is between the Chukotka and Evenk breeds. They are well adapted to mountainous areas, occupying alpine pastures in summer and river valleys and lower elevations in winter. Reindeer in the mountain areas are extremely varied, but the common feature is the comparatively short migration routes and small herd size, the latter being due to the low amount of vegetation in the available pastures.

The prevailing color of this breed is light brown. The average live weight of the stags before rutting season is 135-145 kg while that of hinds in autumn is 91-103 kg. The live weight of 6-month-old male fawns is 57-60 kg and of females 55 kg. The dressed weight of medium-fat adult stags is 55-65 kg, the corresponding weight of adult females being 45-50 kg; the meat yield is 49-50%.

Intensive work is being carried out at the present times to further improve the Even breed and to investigate its genetic structure and biological peculiarities.