How many reindeer would Santa need?

To get to the bottom of your Christmas conundrum, James Tytko called on mathematician Ems Lord to crunch the numbers...

Ems  - Thanks James. What a fun question. After a bit of Googling, I’m going to assume that each reindeer can tug a hefty 136 kilograms. And there are approximately 2.4 billion kids under 18 eagerly awaiting their presents.

James - And I suppose we’ll also need the weight of the average present.
Ems: Exactly right. Based on a thorough investigation of the top ten gifts from the John Lewis website, let’s go for the average gift weighing in at 1kg.

James - Sounds like we’re all set for some maths magic.
Ems - Drumroll, please! Dividing the total weight of the presents by the load each reindeer can carry leads us to the conclusion that it will take 17,647,059 reindeer to haul that sleigh of joy around the world!

James - Woof. Or whatever sound it is a reindeer makes. Are there even enough reindeer to pull this off?
Ems - Some more Googling tells me Earth's reindeer population sits at a mere 7 million. Should the usual suspects, led by Rudolph, lose their magical powers, Father Christmas might need to start thinking about a reindeer breeding project.

James - along with one hell of a poop scoop! Thanks Ems - and merry christmas.

Ems - Merry Christmas, James.