In 1944, 29 reindeer were left on a remote island in Alaska, decades later, they had eaten themselves

What happened to the reindeer on St. Matthew Island is a classic story of wildlife boom and bust. In 1944, the US Coast Guard corralled 29 Nunivak Island reindeer on a barge and floated the animals north to the island, more than 200 miles away to one of the most remote places in Alaska. While they initially grew into a population across the land, today the island is devoid of any reindeer, according to a report by AS.A food sourceThe reindeer were intended as a roaming food source should the men be cut off from supply shipments.The Coast Guard had earlier in the year placed a radio navigation system on the island, along with 19 men. St. Matthew Island is a narrow strip of tundra in the Bering Sea, more than 200 miles from the nearest village. The reindeer were intended as a roaming food source should the men be cut off from supply shipments. The men never shot a single reindeer; the Allies were winning the war, and the Coast Guard pulled its men from the island. But they left the reindeer.Initially, the situation was fine for the animals. Their only predators had disappeared, leaving them on a 32-mile-long, four-mile-wide island rich with their favourite food, lichen.Biologist Dave...