By Police1 Staff
ALTA, Norway — A branch of the Norwegian Police Service has the job of herding reindeer.
According to CNN, the branch oversees the reindeer herding of the indigenous Sami people and provides protection to the environment of the area.
The unit was founded in 1949 and consists of 15 officers. They patrol around 21,600 square miles, the publication reported.
Photographer Gianmarco Maraviglia followed the unit around and captured their daily duties on camera.
“The duty of this police corps is mainly to care for the environment and nature,” Maraviglia said. “It’s not only managing the reindeer herders; the main duty nowadays is protecting nature — like controlling illegal fishing, illegal hunting, all topics related to protecting nature.”
The police pair up in teams of two officers for weeklong missions.
Because the Sami tribe has a long history with the land, the police must know the culture, languages, and traditions of the people.
The area the teams patrol is so large that tracking reindeer can become difficult, Maraviglia told CNN. Officers use binoculars to find fires and tents of the herders, and to spot the animals in migration.
“Looking for the reindeer, the first thing is to look for the tents of the [Sami] harvesters,” he said.
See all the photos here.