Bizzare drone video catches reindeer walking in a hypnotic circle continuously

Charles Darwin devised the concept of "survival of the fittest" for living organisms and time and again, we have seen examples of it. There are several ways through which humans, animals and plants ensure their survival in this harsh world. Recently, a drone clip of a herd of reindeer moving together like a swirling cyclone has been going viral on the internet. According to My Modern Met, reindeer employ this unique defense strategy when feeling threatened. 

Like every other animal species, reindeer have also developed unique plans to keep themselves from harm's way. Their strategy involves putting the most vulnerable at the center. Whenever they are threatened, reindeer herds are known to run in circles, making it almost impossible to target an individual. These fierce-looking circles are often known as a “reindeer cyclone.”

This phenomenon was first discovered by the Vikings, whose way of life was very much connected to hunting reindeer. In this defense strategy, the stronger reindeer from the herd start circling the young and vulnerable ones to protect them from predators, inadvertently creating a cyclone effect. This unique sighting was also featured in the 2019 PBS production "Wild Way of the Vikings." Depicting the Viking lifestyle in the year 1000 AD, the video highlights a striking overhead sequence of reindeer going into a spiral formation to confuse a Viking aiming at them with a bow and arrow.

There have been more insightful observations in the reindeer cyclones by Yngve Espmark from the Department of Zoology of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The 2002 study titled "Behavioral lateralization in reindeer" concluded that upon feeling threatened, reindeer invariably rotated leftwards.

A clip of this reindeer phenomenon has been doing the rounds on the internet after an X user, Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3), posted it on the platform. The video shows a hypnotic reindeer cyclone in Russia's Kola Peninsula with the caption, "Reindeer Cyclones are a real thing... a swirling mass of threatened reindeer stampeding in a circle making it impossible to target an individual.. here the fawns are in the middle. This herd is on Russia’s Kola Peninsula, in the Arctic Circle." In the X thread, the user credited photographer Lev Fedoseyev for the video.

The video has garnered a huge response, with some users claiming that reindeer are not the only animals to follow this strategy. @DavidSandow1 pointed out that even sheep follow the same behavior. He commented, "Sheep do the same thing with dingoes around." Another user, @anwit07, commented that she once saw geese doing the same, "I saw a flock of geese circle like that when a hawk approached," she wrote.

The next time you decide to watch the animated film "Frozen," you might come across a scene where all the reindeer run together in a big circle. The character Sven might look happy, but in reality, happy reindeer don’t run in circles. If you see such reindeer cyclones in the future, know that they are feeling threatened by the presence of a predator and are, hence, setting up a defensive perimeter for their younger clan.