Reindeer herders on the Seward Peninsula have experienced significant losses to their herds from animals (such as wolves) following the wild caribou during their migrations. they are rather small and spindly in the northernmost subspecies),[51] but on average the bull reindeer's antlers are the second largest of any extant deer, after the moose. Rangifer herd size varies greatly in different geographic regions.

The females are of the same form as the males, and their horns are the same shape and size. Iqaluit-based Jackoposie Oopakak's 1989 carving, entitled Nunali, which means ""place where people live", and which is part of the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada, includes a massive set of caribou antlers on which he has intricately carved the miniaturised world of the Inuit where "Arctic birds, caribou, polar bears, seals, and whales are interspersed with human activities of fishing, hunting, cleaning skins, stretching boots, and travelling by dog sled and kayak...from the base of the antlers to the tip of each branch".

In their book entitled Mammal Species of the World, American zoologist Don E. Wilson and DeeAnn Reeder agree with Valerius Geist, specialist on large North American mammals, that this range actually includes several subspecies.

"[29], The Gwich'in, the indigenous people of northwestern Canada and northeastern Alaska, have been dependent on the international migratory Porcupine caribou herd for millennia. There are many autonomous groups and languages within the Sami people so it’s impossible to talk about homogeneity amongst them. There is strong regional variation in Rangifer herd size, By 2013 many caribou herds in North America had "unusually low numbers" and their winter ranges in particular were smaller than they used to be. Wild reindeer are still hunted in Greenland and in North America. [86] The body composition of reindeer varies highly with the seasons. A reindeer can swim easily and quickly, normally at about 6.5 km/h (4 mph) but, if necessary, at 10 km/h (6 mph) and migrating herds will not hesitate to swim across a large lake or broad river. Did you know reindeer’s lose their horns this time of year. name "Caribou" was applied by Europeans on the Fifth Danish Mountain caribou are typically the most massive with the largest circumference measurements. ...get detached every year… Young males lose the velvet from the antlers much more quickly than female caribou even though they are not fully mature. arrangements were permitted. [citation needed] There is also some evidence to suggest that on occasion, especially in the spring when they are nutritionally stressed,[109] they will feed on small rodents (such as lemmings),[110] fish (such as Arctic char), and bird eggs. In one project lead research associate and fluent speaker Gwich’in elder Kenneth Frank works with linguists which include young Gwich'in speakers affiliated with the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks to document traditional knowledge of caribou anatomy. Karasov, W.H. In addition to meat, almost all of the internal organs of reindeer can be eaten, some being traditional dishes. containers. The Porcupine caribou and the barren-ground caribou form large herds and undertake lengthy seasonal migrations from birthing grounds to summer and winter feeding grounds in the tundra and taiga. Report of the Fifth Thule Expedition, 1921-24. [54] "In male caribou, antler mass (but not the number of tines) varies in concert with body mass.

Reindeer [was] particularly abundant in the Magdalenian deposits from the late part of the 4-Wurm just before the end of the Ice Age: at that time and at the early Mesolithic it was the game animal for many tribes. They are raised for their meat, hides and antlers and, to a lesser extent, for milk and transportation. traditional methods and equipment giving way to modern ones.

[85], Reindeer have developed adaptations for optimal metabolic efficiency during warm months as well as for during cold months. [22] In any case, the tarandos name goes back to Aristotle and Theophrastus.

Hi, I’m Raphael Alexander, humbly known as The Man of Wonders. Gathering in large herds is another strategy that caribou use to block insects.

Females with a normal body size and who have had sufficient summer nutrition can begin breeding anytime between the ages of one to three years. Reindeer in northern Fennoscandia (northern Norway, Sweden and Finland) as well in the Kola Peninsula and Yakutia in Russia, are all[dubious – discuss] semi-wild domestic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus f. domesticus), ear-marked by their owners. Thanks for the educational post on the Sami people – we visited Lapland way back in 2007 and loved our time there, though didn’t manage to take in the Samiland Exhibition. This includes both sedentary and migratory populations. })(document, 'script', '//aff.bstatic.com/static/affiliate_base/js/flexiproduct.js'); The Reindeer of Lapland: Friends or Food? Numbers have declined by about 72% over the last three generations, mostly because of catastrophic die-off likely related to severe icing episodes. It may be these animals that Conrad Gessner had seen or heard of. "Specifically, loud knee-clicking is discovered to be an honest signal of body size, providing an exceptional example of the potential for non-vocal acoustic communication in mammals.
(1984). [67], According to a respected Igloolik elder, Noah Piugaattuk, who was one of the last outpost camp leaders,[68] caribou (tuktu) antlers[63]. The caribou feeds the wolf, but it is the wolf who keeps the caribou strong. The Taimyr herd of migrating Siberian tundra reindeer (R. t. sibiricus) in Russia is the largest wild reindeer herd in the world,[4][5] varying between 400,000 and 1,000,000. We have Caribou in Canada….although rumour is they are the same thing, but Caribou can grow bigger because of some environmental factors in Canada.

"[127], Woodland caribou have disappeared from most of their original southern range and were designated as threatened in 2002 by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, (COSEWIC).
[67] Females in good nutritional condition, for example, during a mild winter with good winter range quality, may grow new antlers earlier as antler growth requires high intake. The Caribou Inuit are inland-dwelling Inuit in present-day Nunavut's Keewatin Region, Canada, now known as the Kivalliq Region. Of particular interest is the body composition and diet of breeding and non-breeding females between seasons. group was associated with a particular region, land was generally open to The reindeer has an important economic role for all circumpolar peoples, including the Saami, the Nenets, the Khants, the Evenks, the Yukaghirs, the Chukchi and the Koryaks in Eurasia. [citation needed], In most populations both sexes grow antlers; the reindeer is the only cervid species in which females grow them as well as males. 25–28 in. "[34], In 2005, an analysis of mtDNA found differences between the caribou from Newfoundland, Labrador, southwestern Canada and southeastern Canada, but maintained all in R. t. Island herds such as the subspecies R. t. pearsoni and R. t. platyrhynchus make local movements. [16]:IV[17]:16[16]:IV In Sápmi, reindeer pull pulks.[18]. However, Geist and others considered it valid. [75] Like moose, caribou have specialised noses featuring nasal turbinate bones that dramatically increase the surface area within the nostrils.

[14] Siberian tundra reindeer herds are in decline, and Rangifer tarandus is considered to be vulnerable by the IUCN. [156], The Canadian 25-cent coin, or "quarter" features a depiction of a caribou on one face.