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'Santa's reindeer' are being hunted by wolves
Reindeer in the region of Lapland, Finland, are famous worldwide. They are also very busy at this time of year. That's because they are helping Santa Claus to deliver presents to children all over the world. However, the animals are facing a great danger. Reindeer herders report that an increasing number of reindeer are being killed by wolves. The Reindeer Herders' Association in Finland says wolves have killed around 1,950 reindeer this year. That is a 70 per cent increase from last year. Juha Kujala, a Lapland herder, is worried about the future of his animals. He said there has been a sudden increase in the number of wolves in Finland. This has upset the natural balance between reindeer and wolves.
Mr Kujala joked to reporters about his animals, even though he is worried about them. He said: "These are Santa's reindeer. But we are really lucky because Santa needs them for only one day of the year, so we can fly them for the other 364 days." Many herders believe the Ukraine War is the reason why there are suddenly more wolves in Finland. They say that men who used to hunt wolves in Russia have gone to fight in Ukraine. This means many wolves are crossing the 1,340-km border between Russia and Finland. Kujala said: "It's worse since the Ukraine War started. The wolves are coming from the Russian side. There's nobody left hunting the wolves."
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Chat
Talk about these words from the article.
reindeer / famous / worldwide / presents / animals / wolves / natural balance / joked / reporters / worried / lucky / fly / fight / Ukraine War / hunting / Russia
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True / False
1) The region of Lapland is in the north of Norway. T / F
2) Reindeer herders said wolves are killing more and more reindeer. T / F
3) There was a 70% rise in the number of reindeer wolves killed this year. T / F
4) More wolves in Finland have disrupted the reindeer-wolf balance. T / F
5) A herder is happy that he can fly his reindeers 365 days a year. T / F
6) Russia is sending its soldiers to Finland to hunt the wolves. T / F
7) The border between Finland and Russia is over 1,300 km long. T / F
8) A reindeer herder said no one was hunting the wolves. T / F
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Discussion
1) What do you know about reindeer?
2) What do you know about Finland?
3) Why are reindeer used in the Santa Claus story?
4) What do you know about the Santa Claus story?
5) What animals in your country are facing great danger?
6) How worried are you about the future?
7) What do you know about wolves?
8) What advice do you have for the reindeer herders?
