Each winter, herders in Russia's sparsely-populated Nenets Autonomous District corral their reindeer into open-air pens before selecting weak animals to be culled.

The cull helps preserve the region's fragile tundra by keeping herd sizes down and local people sell reindeer meat, hide and antlers to make a living.

Above: A herd of reindeer stand inside an enclosure in the settlement of Krasnoyein on Nov. 28.