11/12/2025
I’d love to get some Reindeer but realistically I don’t think we have the space.
Anyway I thought I would share these guys story as I’m saddened to see what’s happening.
Many Christmas tree growers have reindeer, making them become a zoo is ridiculous.
PRESS STATEMENT – SOMERSET REINDEER RANCH
Somerset Reindeer Ranch wishes to address recent assertions regarding our licensing status and the nature of the animals in our care. For over a decade, our operation has been fully compliant with the law under an Animal Activities Licence issued by Somerset Council, and we have operated transparently, legally, and professionally throughout this entire period.
REINDEER ARE A DOMESTICATED SPECIES – NOT WILD ANIMALS
It is essential to clarify that reindeer are a domesticated species and have been for thousands of years. Generations of selective breeding across Northern Europe and Asia have resulted in a fully domesticated livestock animal that is not classified as a “wild animal” under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act, from which reindeer are specifically exempt.
DEFRA have recently stated that it is their opinion that reindeer should now be treated as wild for the purposes of zoo licensing. We emphasise that this is indeed an opinion, not a change in legislation, and it contradicts existing classifications in which:
• Reindeer are recorded and moved as livestock through the Livestock Information Service.
• DEFRA itself categorises them as livestock for the purposes of movement and identification rules.
• Scientific and agricultural sources clearly distinguish domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus domesticus) from wild caribou (Rangifer tarandus maxi).
All reindeer currently at the Somerset Reindeer Ranch were born in Somerset and are now part of our fifth generation of breeding, which further underlines their domestic, farmed status.
A SMALL FAMILY BUSINESS ASKED TO SHOULDER UNATTAINABLE COSTS
We are a small, family-run business, operated entirely by service personnel and their families. Our farm is home not only to reindeer but also cows, pigs, horses, donkeys, alpacas, ducks, and chickens—a typical, mixed, agricultural environment.
Despite this, Somerset Council has now required us to obtain a full Zoo Licence, a system designed for large zoological parks, not small agricultural holdings. This sudden requirement has been imposed despite no complaint or investigation ever being made against us. The only correspondence was from a member of the public who enquired about our licensing and copied the Council into their email. From this single enquiry, the Council has chosen to enforce the most extreme licensing route available.
ZOO LICENSING IS NOT JUST A FEE – IT IS A MASSIVE INFRASTRUCTURE BURDEN
Zoo Licensing is a complex, multi-layered regime involving vast operational and structural obligations, far beyond the scope and scale of small rural enterprises. It is not simply a matter of paying a fee.
Requirements typically include:
• Construction of a perimeter security fence on a scale suitable for large zoological collections.
• The presence of staff with fi****ms capability, which legally requires:
• Approved training courses (often costing thousands of pounds)
• A full fi****ms licence
• Annual fees and compliance checks
• Secure on-site storage meeting strict police requirements
Obtaining such a licence as a private rural business is notoriously difficult and expensive. These requirements exist even though reindeer are not dangerous wild animals and are already exempt under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act.
FINANCIAL DISPARITY AND UNSUSTAINABLE COSTS
Somerset Council’s Zoo Licensing fee stands at £2,748, one of the highest in the country, compared with many local authorities whose fees are around £200.
On top of this, the Ranch already invests approximately ÂŁ40,000 per year in the care, feed, welfare, and veterinary needs of our animals. The additional financial and infrastructural burden demanded by Somerset Council would force a small, compliant, long-established family business into an impossible position.
INCONSISTENT AND UNFAIR ENFORCEMENT ACROSS THE UK
Many councils across England do not enforce Zoo Licensing on reindeer at all. This inconsistency has created a landscape in which Somerset Reindeer Ranch is being uniquely and disproportionately targeted with requirements designed for large, heavily fortified zoological institutions—not livestock farms breeding domesticated reindeer.
AN IMPOSSIBLE CONTRADICTION
It is unacceptable and illogical that our reindeer can be considered domestic livestock for the purposes of birth, movement, breeding, and national registration, and yet—according to Somerset Council—be treated as “wild” for exactly one purpose: to enforce an expensive and unsuitable licence.
We cannot be legally allowed to operate on six days as a livestock farm and then be declared, on the seventh, a keeper of wild animals.
OUR POSITION
Somerset Reindeer Ranch stands firm:
• We have operated legally under an Animal Activities Licence for over a decade.
• Our animals are domesticated livestock, responsibly bred and cared for across five generations.
• We have never been the subject of complaints or welfare investigations.
• The Zoo Licence requirement imposed upon us is disproportionate, inconsistent, unaffordable, and based on an opinion, not on clear legislative change.
We will continue to challenge this decision in order to protect our animals, our business, and the hundreds of families we serve each year. Our commitment to animal welfare, legal compliance, and public engagement has not changed—and will not change.
Somerset Reindeer Ranch
