Did you know that reindeer were an indigenous species of Scotland? There are a number of arguments as to when they disappeared, but it was probably around the twelfth century a.d.

There had been various failed attempts to re-introduce reindeer to Britain before Mikel Utsi, A Swedish Sami (Laplander), established the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd in 1952, having realised that the Highlands of Scotland would provide a suitable environment in which they could thrive.

In 1990, the herd had reached a size where it became sensible to split the herd and take on more ground for them to roam on. Thus some of the reindeer were moved to Glenlivet.

In the intervening years, iron age pigs have been introduced to turn over the ground to help in re-establishing birch woodland on which the reindeer can browse. Gradually other rare breeds of animals such as the fallow deer and soay sheep were brought in to graze the lower fertile slopes of the farm not utilised by the reindeer, thus creating the variety of livestock here today.