New course drives research into reindeer and tortoise welfare

Ten specialists in animal behaviour and learning have graduated from Savonia University of Applied Sciences after completing a year-long programme, the first of its kind in Finland, Yle reports. The course has prompted research into the welfare of reindeer used in tourism and the health of four-toed tortoises.

The continuing education programme combined scientific knowledge with practical work, helping people who work with animals better understand how they behave and learn, said Heli Wahlroos, a senior lecturer in natural resources at Savonia. Students applied what they learned in their own fields, she said.

Veterinarian Heidi Kellokoski-Kiiskinen, from Rovaniemi, focused her thesis on challenges in training and teaching reindeer used in tourism. She has long been interested in how their welfare could be assessed scientifically and is planning a wider research project with a welfare researcher at the Natural Resources Institute.

The project aims to develop a scientific basis for measuring reindeer welfare, an area Kellokoski-Kiiskinen said had not previously been studied. She said tourism had changed the outlook for reindeer husbandry and provided work for many people in Lapland.

Animal care worker Sanni Nieminen, who has worked with exotic animals for a decade at a veterinary clinic in Vantaa, studied vitamin D levels in the blood serum of four-toed tortoises with colleagues. The species has no established reference values. The results are preliminary because the sample was small and cannot yet support new treatment recommendations, Nieminen said.

Tuire Kaimio, an author and animal trainer who led the course, said she hopes it will eventually become a state-funded degree. She said the programme had helped students connect with researchers, conduct their own studies and start businesses.