- There are probably five times as many tourists as usual and there is chaos here, I have never been to anything like it, says nature conservationist Håkan Berglund at the county administrative board in Jämtland.

It is about a large tourist stream that is attracted to the mountain area around Stekenjokk after pictures from the so-called Vildmarksvägen, an area on the border between Jämtland and Västerbotten county, where several Sami villages have their reindeer pastures. Right now when the calves are small, the reindeer are extremely susceptible to disturbances and cannot do without wires.

Selfies create havoc

Across the Vildmarksvägen there is a moving route for the reindeer and it is when the reindeer will cross the road that chaos arises, as the flow of cars and motorhomes blocks the possibility of transition.

Both nature monitors Håkan Berglund and his colleague Jan-Erik Jonsson, nature monitors at the county administrative board in Västerbotten testify to a situation they had never seen before. They tell how they have recently seen how tourists create serious disruptions by getting too close to the reindeer and stressing them. Tourists approach by car, on foot and bike to take selfies with the reindeer.

Reindeer calves have been killed

- One day there were 50 mobile homes in a row that stopped to look at reindeer, at the same time several hundred reindeer came across the road, but the motorhomes completely blocked the road. It was absolutely chaotic. Reindeer calves were separated from their ropes and in some cases calves (which did not find their way back) were killed, says Håkan Berglund.

Håkan Berglund also tells us he has seen cars driving up the bridge over Saxån, even though there have been reindeer on the way across the bridge. The reindeer were so stressed that they tried to escape by jumping over the railing and into the water.

Reindeer has drowned

Reindeer calves have been found drowned. This is probably because they are severely stressed. But this year it is also unusually heavy snow, which makes the waterways more difficult to pass than usual.

- Many tourists do not take into account, and if you say they do not listen and some become unpleasant, says Håkan Berglund.

Oddasat was the first to tell us about the serious disturbances in the reindeer industry. When SVT Jämtland is in place, a large reindeer herd has passed the evening before and continued on, so some reindeer are not visible during the hours SVT's team is there. However, the amount of tourists is very large.

More about that in upcoming articles during the day.