Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
MEET THE REAL RUDOLPHS
Enjoy the antler antics at Britain’s only reindeer school in a new show
Somanyreindeer,and not a Rudolph in sight. Thereisanelvis though.andapoirot. As well as a Pavlova, a Hopscotch and a Lego. Welcome to the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre in the Scottish Highlands, home to the UK’S only wild herd of reindeer, and the setting for a unique ‘school’ where babies are assessed for their sleigh-pulling skills. A team usually tours Britain every December. This year, of course, the tour can’t happen.
But the magic hasn’t been furloughed. They have allowed Tvcamerasin to follow all the antler antics in Channel 4’s A Baby Reindeer’s First Christmas.
So what happens at reindeer school? First, the teachers must get to know their charges.everycalfinthe150strong herd has a name, and the staff name each year’s intake on a new theme. For instance, the 2009 babies were called after cakes, desserts or puddings, so there’s a Jaffa and an Oatcake. Last year, the babies were named after TV detectives, so hello to Morse, Clouseau and Miss Marple.
This year’s babies have been named after beans, pulses and seeds and the cameras follow them from their arrival through to training, where they’re tried out to see if they’re suitable for sleigh duty. Is it true Santa’s reindeer would be female, because in December the males lose their antlers? ‘That’s utterly wrong,’ says Elizabeth ‘Tilly’ Dansie, who started out as a volunteer but bought the herd in the 80s. ‘We don’t usually select females for the sleigh. They’re too busy rearing young. Generally we use castrated males, who still have antlers. Breeding bulls tend to be too bolshie.’
Thecalfwho will capture the most hearts is Holy Moley. At three days old she got stuck down aholeandhadtobe rescued. ‘When the story was being told, someone said, “Holy Moly!”, and it stuck,’ says Tilly, who adapted the spelling. ‘She’s had to contend with a lot.’
Sadly, her mother died. ‘We never found her, we don’t know what happened. But Holy
Moley is a plucky one. Actually, she’s a little madam!’
Jenny Johnston A Baby Reindeer’s First Christmas, Christmas Eve, 6.40pm, Channel 4. To support the herd and find out how to adopt a reindeer visit cairngormreindeer.co.uk.