In class, we discussed a real-life situation where a group of 29 reindeer were transported to St. Matthew Island. The reindeer thrived, became overpopulated, and then the population completely died out. What was the cause of this?
Six thousand reindeer once lived on a remote island in the Bering Sea
that was briefly their paradise. In what has become a classic story of
wildlife boom and bust, no reindeer live on St. Matthew Island now.
Three scientists just looked back at the St. Matthew's reindeer herd and
found that an extreme winter probably pushed the stressed animals to
their deaths.
