Because of the changeable weather an ice crust arose on the snow and reindeer could not get food on their own. Reindeer herders fed the main herd with compound feed. The dead reindeer, most likely, have strayed from the main herd.

Salmon harvesters in the Far East parts of Russia have landed so much fish that they have begun to dump some of their excess catch wherever they can, forcing the region to confront an epidemic of rancid, rotting salmon.