Is it true that in Finland the deer paint horns with reflective paint to reduce the number of accidents with them?

The last few months, a truly fabulous picture has been going on social networks: in the night in the middle of the road there is a deer with luminous horns. Users claim that the photograph was taken in Finland, and the animal is captured on it, which was specially painted with a reflective paint to reduce the number of deaths on the roads. We decided to check if everything is really so.

“A deer in Finland, which was covered with reflecting paint in order to reduce the likelihood of knocking it down on the road. It looks fabulous " - Writes One of the users of the Russian Picabu, who shared a photograph with a deer in July this year. Less than a month has passed, and the publication has already collected almost 5,000 likes.

And this is not the limit: in the English -language sector Facebook with this photo Shared more than 50,000 people.

In Finland, an attempt was really made once to reduce the number of accidents involving deer. For this, they painted the horns with special reflective paint. The idea was that in winter - during a short daylight day, when most trips take place in the dark - from afar to warn drivers about the appearance of an animal on the road.

The experiment was carried out by the local Association of Reindeer Herringbods. The Russian media also talked about the initiative: "RIA Novosti" TJournal and even "Channel One". Only now they spent it in 2014.

Annually in Finland in accidents Dies up to 4000 deer per year. This happens mainly in the autumn and winter months, when it is dark and slippery on the roads. Therefore, the Finnish authorities are always trying to come up with ways to reduce the number of such deaths.

However, by 2016, it became clear that the idea with reflective paint did not bring the expected success. How reported The Associated Press, after the initiative, the Finnish authorities tried another method-a mobile application that would monitor the deer groups and warned drivers if one of them moved towards the road. 

The idea worked. The mobile application is really partially reduced The number of such incidents.

One would think that the story is true, because the Finnish reindeer herders really painted horns to deer. The problem is that real photographs of animals that used reflective paint looked different.

The photograph that users of social networks are now being divided is actually a 3D work of the artist Vasen Katro. He is a picture Shared In its Instagram in February 2020.

“This is 3D. This is not a reality, ”the artist signed his work, explaining that he was inspired by a real story from Finland.

Thus, although the history of such an initiative is real, the image itself, which has become viral in social networks, is artistic fiction. Therefore, no matter how believable for those who know about the Finnish initiative seem “photography”, this is a fake.

Fake

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Fact Check-Finland Vid Paint Reindeers ’Antlers with Reflective Paint, But Social Media Posts Feature Digital Artwork
2. Glowing Antlers Failed, So Finns Try App to Save Reinder
3. Finnish Phone App Finds Reinder, Helps to Avoid Road Kill