Earmarks

Every reindeer is owned by someone and the ownership is marked to the ear of a reindeer. The earmark is officially registered to its owner. Reindeer Herders’ Association is the authority in earmark issues and has the earmark registry. (RHA  848/1990).

The deeds of the earmarks are described both in drawing and verbally. Every earmark is a one of a kind combination of different kind of deeds. Describing the earmark starts from the tip of the right ear and goes down to the bottom. There are around 12 000 earmarks in use.

The deeds of the reindeer earmark are: pistel, pykälä, hanka, poikki, haara, halki, päätä vita, alta vita, terotus, ketunkanto, vastahanka, reikä and reiästä halki, linnunvarvas, tiili, rappuhanka, hanka and hangan sisään and vatma. Combining deeds gives different earmarks. In addition, herders can use an ear tag as an extra mark. These are approved by the Association.

More information on reindeer earmarks and registry executive secretary