The Ministry for the Environment has put a temporary moratorium in place for the hunting of reindeer.

The ban is effective immediately, for Area 9, until a new counting of reindeer is finished. Anyone who purchased a hunting license for Area 9 will be refunded.

As reported by Fréttablaðið, the reindeer population has seriously declined recently. Last July, there were only 113 reindeer counted in Area 9, yet 42 hunting permits were issued.

The Ministry explains on their website that due to the paltry numbers, they will be putting a freeze on hunting reindeer until further notice.

Reindeer are not native to Iceland, and were brought over from Scandinavia centuries ago. They are more typically found in the northeast of the country.