Documented sources confirm
that the settlers originally brought the domesticated animals of Iceland
to the country. They had to
select the prime of their stocks because they could only take very few
of each species with them. Those
creatures, horses, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, fowl and, dogs shared the
same hardships as the human population during the centuries.
The harsh nature and climate of the country caused great losses
in human and creature lives, and the result is the present natural
diseases also took their toll when misguided imports of livestock late
in the 19th and early in the 20th centuries caused
the amazingly quick distribution of fatal diseases, such as pneumonia
and scrabie. The domestic
animals have survived without being crossed with foreign breeds to
prevent inbreeding and its undesirable effects.
Experimental crossings between a few heads of Icelandic cattle
with the Limousine-, Aberdeen Angus- and the Galloway breeds have not
changed the mainstay of the old stock.
No such experiments have ever been carried out with the Icelandic
horse breed as they have always been forbidden by law.
The small livestock of goats has also escaped such misguided
Iceland cannot boast of
many species of wild animals compared to many other countries and
continents. The country has been isolated from the beginning and mainly
the realm of the creatures of the sea, insects, and the avifauna.
Various species of insects were and are carried to the country by
the winds and transport vessels, and have gradually increased in number.
The species of nesting birds have, however, grown much more
slowly in number. The only
species of airborne mammals spotted every now and then in the country,
without being able to breed here, are different species of bats, carried
here with the winds. Serpents,
snakes, and reptiles do not thrive outdoors, but have been imported
illegally as pets. Fortunately, most of the less desirable species brought to
the country by international transport vehicles do not thrive in this
climate. Experiments have
been made with importing more desirable, wild animals, such as musk oxen
and snow hares, without result. The
relations between the human population and the animals and attitude
towards them still rely very much on the effective value of the animals.
None of the wild land mammals are totally inviolate, sea mammals,
except the seals, are protected, some bird species are totally
protected, others temporarily each year, and the rest not at all. Very few, if any, insect species are protected.
Law and regulations
concerning the import of domestic animals, pets and the aforementioned
animals are very strict and to the point.
The reason is the fact, that the already present species of
animals in the country have lived in isolation on this island for
centuries without contact with many diseases and have therefore not
developed immunity against them.
Experimental import of foreign, domesticated animals has lead to
catastrophic distribution of i.e. pneumonia and scabies.
The import of wild mammal species does not seem to have affected
the live-stocks the same way, but the possibility of that danger is