(right) istock
The day has finally
arrived. everybody seems
To love (or aT leasT Tol-
eraTe) Their respecTive
presenTs. in a sTupefied
Turkey coma, The collins
family gaThers before The
Tv To waTch Their favou-
riTe holiday flick, Elf
Much of 2003's Elf was
lmed at the former
Riverview Hospital in
Coquitlam, using reindeer
from ReputAbel Game Farm—
the oldest of three licensed
reindeer farms in B.C. Dawn
and Ken Abel have been raising
reindeer near Groundbirch in
northeastern B.C., since 1990;
at one point the couple had
about 75 reindeer but they are
currently down to 16. Rein-
deer are related to caribou
but are shorter and stockier:
an adult female is usually
under 200 pounds and
an adult male at his largest
just before rut can be
350 or 400 pounds.
Dawn says about
half the farm's
revenue comes from
Christmas mov-
ies, with the Abels'
deer also having
appeared in numer-
ous commercials and
Christmas
displays.
Filming takes
place from April
to September
so by Christmas,
the reindeer aren't
too busy. They "just
hang around on the
farm, and we take them
to the Chetwynd parade–
and that's about all we
do," says Dawn.
■
december 2015 BCBusiness 51
