Reindeer pastures devastated in Sweden

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- The Sami of Sweden have been forced to apply for aid to feed their reindeer after nearly all the pasture land in the region was declared a disaster.

The crisis over pasture land overshadowed preparations for Sami National Day on Wednesday, The Local newspaper reported.

Winter pastures have been devastated by too much snow in the north to bare ground in the south, the newspaper said. The Sami Parliament of Sweden (Sametinget) said the situation has not been this bad since 1936.

The Sami, once known as Laplanders, are indigenous people who inhabit large parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia, the newspaper said.