Reindeer

The reindeer, known as caribou in North America, is an Arctic-dwelling deer (Rangifer tarandus).

Habitat

The reindeer is distributed throughout a number of northern locales. Reindeer are found throughout Scandinavia (including Iceland); in Russian Europe in Spitsbergen and furthermore, Northern Russia including Novaya Zemlya; in Russian Asia, to the Pacific Ocean; in North America on Greenland, Canada and Alaska. In 1952, reindeer were re-introduced to Scotland, as the natural stock had become extinct in the 10th century.

Domesticated deer are mostly found in Northern Scandinavia and Russia, and wild deer are mostly found in North America, Greenland and Iceland. Its natural occurrence is approximately bounded within the 62° longitude.

Anatomy

The weight of a female varies between 60 and 170 kg. In some subspecies of reindeer, the male is slightly larger; in others, the male can weigh up to 300 kg. Both sexes grow antlers, which (in the Scandinavian variety) for old males fall off in December, for young males in the spring and for females during the summer. The antlers typically have two separate groups of points (see image), a lower and upper. They mainly eat lichens in winter, especially reindeer moss. However, they also eat the leaves of willows and birches, as well as sedges and grasses. They can also eat voles (lat. clethrionomys glareolus), lemmings (lat. lemmus lemmus), birds and bird eggs.

An unusual feature of the reindeer is that it has front teeth only on its bottom jaw; there are molars on both the top and bottom.

Population

In the wild, caribou migrate in large herds between their birthing habitat and their winter habitat. Their wide hooves help the animal move through snow and tundra; they also help propel the animal when it swims. About 1 million live in Alaska, and a comparable number live in northern Canada.

There are an estimated 5 million reindeer in Eurasia, mainly semi-domesticated.

Males usually split apart from the group and become solitary, while the remaining herd consists mostly of females, usually a matriarchy.

Diseases and threats

Natural threats to caribou include avalanches and the predators wolves, wolverines, lynxes, bears, etc. In mesolithic and neolithic periods, Europeans hunted them, too.

Reindeer and humans

Economy

Wild caribou are still hunted in North America. In the traditional lifestyle of the Inuit people and Northern First Nations people, the caribou is a source of food, clothing, shelter and tools.

The reindeer has (or have had) an important economic role for all circumpolar peoples, including the Sami, Nenets, Khants, Evenks, Yukaghirs, Tjuktjer and Korjaker in Eurasia. It is believed that domestication started between Bronze Age-Iron Age. Siberian deer-owners also use the reindeer to ride on. (Siberian reindeer are larger than their Scandinavian relatives.) For breeders, a single deer-owner usually own some hundreds or up to thousands of animals. The numbers of Russian herders have been drastically reduced since the fall of the Soviet Union. The fur and meat is sold, which is an important source of income. Reindeer were introduced into Alaska near the end of the 19th century; they interbreed with native caribou subspecies there.

Reindeer meat is popular in the Scandinavian countries. Reindeer meatballs are sold canned.

Local names

In Sami, the male caribou is called sarve, a castrated bull (which in old time was performed by a bite) hierke and the female sex is called vaya. The name Caribou is thought to come from a Mi'kmaq word that means "one that paws (the ground)".

Subspecies

• Svalbard Reindeer (R. tarandus platyrhynchus) which are found on Svalbard is the smallest subspecies of reindeer.
• Mountain/Wild Reindeer (R. tarandus tarandus) which have a continuous distribution in the tundra biome from west to east across the Eurasian continent, including Fennoscandia.
• Finnish Forest Reindeer (R. tarandus fennicus) Wild forest reindeer in Fennoscandia are only found in two areas, in Finnish/Russian Karelia, and a small population in central south Finland. The Karelia population reaches far in to Russia, however, so far that it remains an open question whether reindeer further to the east are fennicus as well.
• Woodland Caribou (R. tarandus caribou) which are found in North American woodlands as far south as Maine and Washington. Woodland Caribou have disappeared from most of their original range and are considered "threatened" where they remain.
• Peary Caribou (R. tarandus pearyi) which are found in the islands of the Canadian Arctic.
• Barren-ground Caribou (R. tarandus groenlandicus) which are found in northern Canada. This is the most numerous subspecies in North America.
• Grant's Caribou (R. tarandus granti) which are found in Alaska and northwestern Canada.
• Arctic reindeer (R. tarandus eogroenlandicus) which is an East Greenland population that has been extinct since 1900.

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