Reindeer

With majestic antlers spread, reindeer create an iconic silhouette. Reindeer are the domestic variety of caribou, bred for food and travel across the snowy tundra.

Reindeer

Rangifer tarandus, Mammalia Artiodactyla

This is the only deer in which the female carries antlers. The antlers are long, sweeping beams with forward-pointing brow tines. Males shed their antlers in November-April, and females in May-June. The feet are very large with deeply cleft hoofs that aid in walking on snow and soft earth. When they walk, a clicking sound it made by a tendon slipping over a bone in the foot. Weight can range up to about 700 lbs.

Reindeer live in herds that persist for many years. In North America, naturalists have identified about 30 herds which do not mix with other herds, and which migrate together. The herds range in size from 20 to 200,000. In Europe they have been semi-domesticated for 3,000 years. They are allowed to form herds and move about freely, but some selective breeding is done. One fawn is born when the herd arrives at its summer feeding grounds. For the first several weeks the fawn is hidden and the female comes to nurse it several times per day. In just a few weeks it is able to eat on its own and must be ready to migrate in the fall to the winter feeding grounds.

Wilderness Trek

RangeCircumpolar
HabitatTundra and arctic woodlands
Wild DietGrass, sedges, lichen, birch and willow leaves
Zoo DietHay and grain

Conservation

StatusVulnerable

Threats: habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict

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Did you know?

Reindeer can see ultraviolet light, which helps them spot things that most mammals could not. For example, fur absorbs UV light and so an arctic wolf, which would be well camouflaged to other animals, appears black to the reindeer - giving them a helpful heads up.

Behavior
Reindeer live in herds that persist for many years. In North America, naturalists have identified about 30 herds which do not mix with other herds, and which migrate together. The herds range in size from 20 to 200,000. In Europe they have been semi-domesticated for 3,000 years. They are allowed to form herds and move about freely, but some selective breeding is done. Their skin is used for clothing, their flesh for meat, and their antlers for tools.
Reproduction
One fawn is born when the herd arrives at its summer feeding grounds. For the first several weeks the fawn is hidden and the female comes to nurse it several times per day. In just a few weeks it is able to eat on its own and must be ready to migrate in the fall to the winter feeding grounds.
Gestation210 to 240 days
Litter1

Reindeer

Conservation

Did you know?

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