Can Santa Claus reach all of Greenland?

When the day of Christmas Eve approaches, the anticipation begins effervescence to spread among Greenland's youngest.

They look forward to gifts, to the smell of packages and to the sound of little feet bouncing down the stairs on Christmas morning. And we all know who is behind it: Santa Claus and his faithful sleigh team.

When the day of Christmas Eve approaches, the anticipation begins effervescence to spread among Greenland's youngest.

They look forward to gifts, to the smell of packages and to the sound of little feet bouncing down the stairs on Christmas morning. And we all know who is behind it: Santa Claus and his faithful sleigh team.

But how realistic is it really?

Already at the first calculation, the story begins squeak. According to Statistics Greenland, there are 12,863 children and young people between 0 and 16 year. They live scattered over a country that stretches from Siorapaluk in the north to Tasiilaq in the east and Narsarmijit in the south. It is a logistical solitaire of dimensions – even for a man with a magical full beard.

And if we kindly calculate the weight of the gifts: five kilos per child. This amounts to approximately 65 tonnes of Christmas presents, which the reindeer must fly, drag or conjure up rocks, fjords and ice caps. All within five more six hours.

Here you could think that the reindeer are superheroes. But AG decided to ask an actual expert.

Winter sole prevents

A researcher is introduced to Christmas logistics. Hers reaction is cash. Before the question is almost complete, researcher reaches Mathilde Le Moullec from the Greenland Institute of Nature puts her hand forward towards the screen.

- Stop. It's not possible, she says as she tries to keep the mask.

She researches the biology of reindeer - both in Greenland and previously on Svalbard – and knows exactly what the majestic animals can do. And yet more important: what they can't do.

- Yes, we have enough of them to transport 65 tonnes of Christmas presents. Approximately 130,000 reindeer in the area of Ameralik, Akia-Maniitsoq and Kangerlussuaq-Sisimiut, shows the last counts in 2018. But then the party stops too, she says.

Why? Because the reindeer – unlike Santa's cartoon version – they throttle back their activities and adapt the winter.

- In winter, they don't move very much, she explains and continues:

- Their GPS collars show that they stay very small areas, often only a few hundred meters at a time. They do this to save money the energy – otherwise they risk simply becoming too thin and dying.

She elaborates that reindeer live on a tight leash during the winter energy budget. They spend the autumn building up a thick layer of fat, which keep them alive through months of hard frost, deep snow, ice layers on the ground and very little food.

- That fat layer is their survival. Each additional movement, every unnecessary step burns valuable energy. Therefore, they almost go in 'eco-operation' throughout the winter.

The scene is easy to imagine: a sled filled to the brim, a herd of reindeer that refuse to move more than a few kilometers. Santa standing by and sighing.

A summer Christmas Eve?

If the reindeer could decide for themselves…

In the summer, the reindeer wander more. It sounds promising - but only almost.

- They move in the same area, but almost cross never into another region, says Mathilde.

- So children in a settlement cannot expect to receive help from reindeer near another settlement.

And in East Greenland?

She laughs:

- No. The reindeer do not cross the ice sheet. It is unrealistic.

So even a summer Christmas would be geographical discrimination.

An even bigger problem presents itself.

- As a rule, reindeer cannot pull at full gallop a long time, she says.

According to the researcher, they will walk a short distance before stopping. They prefer to go quietly - and usually they go because there is one purpose of it. And for the most part, they stick to the same region throughout their lives.

- On Sápmi land in the northern part of Scandinavia uses the Sami them as draft animals. But it requires that they be neutered first. It is a violent solution for delivering gifts, it comes from smiling the nature institute's reindeer expert.

At that moment, Santa's dream falls to the ground. The sled must parked.

So what about Santa Claus?

Santa's workshop is located - after all modern logistics information – in China. From there it is just under 8,500 kilometers to Nuuk in a straight line. And twice as long round trip. Even without reindeer would it would be quite a stretch to cover.

However, Mathilde Le Moullec has a proposal which is both technical as ethical:

- Buy local. I do that myself. Household or recycling. So we do not burden the dear reindeer or the climate unnecessarily.

Her point is both practical and poetic: Christmas joy will come not from the weight of gifts, but from the thought behind them. And the climate – as well as the reindeer – is allowed to survive another winter without being forcibly dismissed as modern package taxis.

But maybe the point is different.

Because even if the children believe that the gifts arrive with reindeer at full gallop through the polar night, the adults know something that is almost as much magical:

That Christmas joy is not about how the presents arrive - but that they do.

The rest? Santa Claus and the logistics gods in China have to figure that out of.