Finland’s roads can be a dangerous place to ride as the country is covered in forests which are the natural habitats of wild animals. Since at night it is nearly impossible to spot wild animals on road, and a lot of accidents happened in the country due to this, Finland decided to tackle the problem creatively.

Statistics have shown that more than 4,000 reindeer cause road accidents and die in crashes each year, and the damages caused by wild animals have been estimated to be $18 million per year. To end putting everyone’s life in danger, the Finnish Reindeer Herders Association came up with a set of measures, and one of them is spraying the reindeer antlers with reflective paint. This way when they approach the road, cars can spot them more quickly and avoid the impact on time.

The project began in 2014, when volunteers have covered reindeer in spray paint all over their bodies, creating reflective vests for them. But now they are trying a different approach, and by spray painting the antlers they create more visibility for the cars approaching the road from every side. The project is in an ongoing improvement process, as the reflective paint was not always very durable, but the Finnish Reindeer Herders Association is open to suggestions and constantly looking for new solutions.

Reindeer in Finland are having their antlers sprayed with reflective paint to help save their lives from tragic car accidents.

Photo: Reindeer Herder’s Association

Update: The Reindeer Herder’s Association, which operates under Finland’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, experimented with spraying reflective paint on reindeer fur and antlers in 2014. The test ultimately failed, but the organization has since found more success with an app that alerts drivers to reindeer crossings.

However, the photo used in the post it’s an illustration, made using 3D software by visual designer Vasjen Katro.