A state of emergency was declared in mid-August in Khatanga, a small town on the banks of the river of the same name in Russia’s far northern Taymyr Peninsula, after more than 1,200 dead reindeer were found scattered on the river’s banks.

Poaching and climate change might be the reasons why more than 1,200 migrating animals did not make it across the wide Arctic waterway.

Climate change is triggering behavior change among animals across the Arctic. In Northern Siberia wild reindeer this summer started migrating almost a month earlier than normal.