20th century.

Initially, the reindeer were intended to provide recreational hunting as well as fresh meat for the numerous people working in the whaling industry on the island at the time. As the whaling industry came to an end in the 1960s, and in the absence of a permanently resident human population, the reindeer population, in two geographically separated wild herds, increased to the point where their presence was causing environmental damage. This led to a decision