Reindeer

Reindeer/Caribou
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Family: Cervidae Subfamily: Capreolinae Genus: Rangifer C.H. Smith, 1827 Species: R. tarandus
Binomial name
Rangifer tarandus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Reindeer map

The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), also known as the caribou when wild in North America, is an Arctic and Subarctic-dwelling deer, widespread and numerous across the northern Holarctic.

Distribution and habitat

Large male Reindeer

The reindeer is a widespread and numerous species in the northern Holarctic. Originally, the reindeer was found in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Russia, Mongolia, and northern China north of the 50th latitude. In North America it was found in Alaska, Canada, and the northern US from Washington to Maine. In the 19th century, it was apparently still present in southern Idaho. It also occurred naturally on Sakhalin, Greenland, and probably even in historical time in Scotland and Ireland. During the late Pleistocene era, reindeer were found as far south as Nevada and Tennessee in North America and Spain in Europe.^[2][3] Today, wild reindeer have disappeared from many areas within this large historical range, especially from the southern parts where it vanished almost everywhere. Large populations of wild reindeer are still found in Siberia, Greenland, Alaska, and Canada. Domesticated reindeer are mostly found in northern Scandinavia, Russia, and Iceland (where they were introduced by humans in the 18th century). The last remaining wild reindeer in Europe are found in portions of southern Norway.^[4]The southern boundary of the species' natural range is approximately at 62° north latitude.

Southern-most reindeer: a South Georgian reindeer with velvet-covered horns.

A few reindeer from Norway were introduced to the South Atlantic island of South Georgia in the beginning of the 20th century. Today there are two distinct herds still thriving there, permanently separated by glaciers. Their total numbers are no more than a few thousand. The flag and the coat of arms of the territory contain an image of a reindeer.

Around 4,000 reindeer have been introduced into the French sub-antarctic archipelago of Kerguelen Islands.

Biology and behavior

Reindeer antlers grow again each year under a layer of fur called velvet. This reindeer is currently losing the velvet layer on one of its antlers.

Anatomy

The female varies in weight between 60 and 170 kg (130 and 370 lb) and measures 162-205 cm (64-81 in) long. The male (or "bull") is typically larger (although the extent to which varies in the different subspecies), weighing 100-318 kg (220-700 pounds) and measuring 180-214 cm (70-84 in) in head-and-body length.^[5] Shoulder height can measure from 80 to 150 cm (31 to 59 in) and the tail adds 14-20 cm (5.5-8 in).^[6] Both sexes grow antlers,^[7] which (in the Scandinavian variety) for old males fall off in December, for young males in the early spring, and for females, summer. The antlers typically have two separate groups of points (see image), a lower and upper. Domesticated reindeer are shorter-legged and heavier than their wild counterparts. The bull reindeer's antlers are the second largest of any extant deer, after the Moose, and can range up to 100 cm (40 in) in width and 135 cm (53 in) in beam length.

Reindeer have specialized noses featuring nasal turbinate bones that dramatically increase the surface area within the nostrils. Incoming cold air is warmed by the animal's body heat before entering the lungs, and water is condensed from the expired air and captured before the deer's breath is exhaled, used to moisten dry incoming air and possibly absorbed into the blood through the mucous membranes.

Reindeer hooves adapt to the season: in the summer, when the tundra is soft and wet, the footpads become spongy and provide extra traction. In the winter, the pads shrink and tighten, exposing the rim of the hoof which cuts into the ice and crusted snow to keep it from slipping. This also enables them to dig down (an activity known as "cratering")^[8][9] through the snow to their favorite food, a lichen known as reindeer moss. The knees of many species of reindeer are adapted to produce a clicking sound as they walk.

The reindeer coat has two layers of fur, a dense woolly undercoat and longer-haired overcoat consisting of hollow, air-filled hairs.

Diet

Reindeer are ruminants, having a four-chambered stomach. 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. There is some evidence to suggest that on occasion they will also feed on lemmings,^[10] arctic char, and bird eggs.^[11] Reindeer herded by the Chukchis have been known to enthusiastically devour mushrooms in late summer.^[12]

Herd of Barren-ground Caribou on the Thelon River

Reproduction

Mating occurs from late September or October to early November. Males battle for access to females. Two males will lock each other’s antlers together and try to push each other away. The most dominant males can collect as many as 15-20 females to mate with. A male will stop eating during this time and lose much of its body reserves. Calves may be born the following May or June. After 45 days, the calves are able to graze and forage but continue suckling until the following fall and become independent from their mothers.

Migration

The reindeer travels the furthest of any terrestrial mammal. The caribou of North America can run at speeds up to 80 km/h (50 mph) and can travel as much as 5,000 km (3,100 mi) a year. Migrations can number in the thousands. The most extensive migrations occur in spring and fall. During fall migrations, the groups become smaller and the reindeer begin to mate. During the winter, reindeer travel to forested areas to forage under the snow. By spring, groups leave their winter grounds to go to the calving grounds. A reindeer can swim easily and quickly; migrating herds will not hesitate to swim across a large lake or broad river.

Predators

There are a variety of predators who prey heavily on reindeer. Golden Eagles prey on calves and are the most prolific hunter on calving grounds. Wolverine will take newborn calves or birthing cows, as well as (less commonly) infirm adults. Brown Bears prey on Reindeer of all ages, but (as with the Wolverine) are mostly likely to attack calves or sickly animals. The Gray Wolf is the most effective natural predator of adult Reindeer, especially during the winter. As carrion, caribou are feed on by foxes, ravens and hawks. Blood-sucking insects, such as blackflies and mosquitoes are a plague to reindeer during the summer and can cause enough stress to inhibit feeding and calving behaviors.^[13] In one case, the entire body of a reindeer was found in a Greenland Shark, the only shark typically found near the North Pole.^[14] The population numbers of some of these predators is influenced by the migration of reindeer.

Reindeer and humans

Hunting

See also: Reindeer hunting in Greenland

Reindeer hunting by humans has a very long history and caribou/wild reindeer "may well be the species of single greatest importance in the entire anthropological literature on hunting."^[15]

Humans started hunting reindeer in the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods and humans are today the main predator in many areas. Norway and Greenland have unbroken traditions of hunting wild reindeer from the ice age until the present day. In the non-forested mountains of central Norway, such as Jotunheimen, it is still possible to find remains of stone built trapping pits, guiding fences, and bow rests, built especially for hunting reindeer. These can, with some certainty, be dated to the Migration Period although it is not unlikely that they have been in use since the Stone Age.

Norway is now preparing to apply for nomination as a World Heritage Site for areas with traces and traditions of reindeer hunting in Central Sørlandet (Southern Norway).

Wild caribou are still hunted in North America and Greenland. In the traditional lifestyle of the Inuit people, Northern First Nations people, Alaska Natives, and the Kalaallit of Greenland, the caribou is an important source of food, clothing, shelter, and tools.

Reindeer husbandry

A reindeer sled, Arkhangelsk, Russia. Late nineteenth century photochrom.

Milking reindeer in the 19th century

Reindeer have been herded for centuries by several Arctic and Subarctic people including the Sami and the Nenets. They are raised for their meat, hides, antlers and, to a lesser extent, for milk and transportation. Reindeer are not considered fully domesticated, as they generally roam free on pasture grounds. In traditional nomadic herding, reindeer herders migrate with their herds between coast and inland areas according to an annual migration route, and herds are keenly tended. However, reindeer have never been bred in captivity, though they were tamed for milking as well as for use as draught animals or beasts of burden.

The use of caribou as semi-domesticated livestock in Alaska was introduced in the late 1800s by Sheldon Jackson as a means of providing a livelihood for Native peoples there. A regular mail run in Wales, Alaska used a sleigh drawn by caribou. In Alaska, caribou herders use satellite telemetry to track their herds, using online maps and databases to chart the herd's progress.

Economy

The reindeer has (or has had) an important economic role for all circumpolar peoples, including the Saami, Nenets, Khants, Evenks, Yukaghirs, Chukchi, and Koryaks in Eurasia. It is believed that domestication started between the Bronze and Iron Age. Siberian deer owners also use the reindeer to ride on (Siberian reindeer are larger than their Scandinavian relatives). For breeders, a single owner may own hundreds or even 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 herders on the Seward Peninsula have experienced significant losses to their herds from animals (such as wolves) following the wild caribou during their migrations.

Reindeer meat is popular in the Scandinavian countries. Reindeer meatballs are sold canned. Sautéed reindeer is the best-known dish in Lapland. In Alaska and Finland, reindeer sausage is sold locally to supermarkets and grocery stores.

Reindeer antler is powdered and sold as an aphrodisiac, nutritional or medicinal supplement to Asian markets.

Caribou have been a major source of subsistence for Canadian Inuit.

In History

The first written description of reindeer is in Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico (chapter 6.26) from the 1st century BC. Here, it is described:

There is an ox shaped like a stag. In the middle of its forehead a single horn grows between its ears, taller and straighter than the animal horns with which we are familiar. At the top this horn spreads out like the palm of a hand or the branches of a tree. The females are of the same form as the males, and their horns are the same shape and size.

Local names

The name Caribou comes, through French, from Mi'kmaq qalipu, meaning "snow-shoveler", referring to its habit of pawing through the snow for food.^[16] In Inuktitut, the caribou is known by the name tuttuk (Labrador dialect).

Subspecies

The characteristic reindeer in Svalbard

Reindeer have been divided since 1961 into two major groups, the tundra reindeer with six subspecies and the woodland reindeer with three subspecies. Among the tundra subspecies are three small-bodied, high-artic island forms. These island subspecies are probably not closely related, since the svalbard reindeer seems to have evolved from large european reindeer, whereas peary caribou and the extinct arctic reindeer are closely related and probably having evolved in high-arctic North America^[17].

Tundra reindeer

• Arctic reindeer (R. tarandus eogroenlandicus), an extinct subspecies found until 1900 in eastern Greenland.
• Peary Caribou (R. tarandus pearyi), found in the northern islands of the Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada.
• Svalbard Reindeer (R. tarandus platyrhynchus), found on the Svalbard islands of Norway, is the smallest subspecies of reindeer.

• Mountain/Wild Reindeer (R. tarandus tarandus), found in the Arctic tundra of Eurasia, including the Fennoscandia peninsula of Northern Europe.
• Porcupine caribou or Grant's Caribou (R. tarandus granti) which are found in Alaska, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories of Canada.
• Barren-ground Caribou (R. tarandus groenlandicus), found in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada and in western Greenland.

Woodland reindeer

• Finnish Forest Reindeer (R. tarandus fennicus), found in the wild in only two areas of the Fennoscandia peninsula of Northern Europe, in Finnish/Russian Karelia, and a small population in central south Finland. The Karelia population reaches far into Russia, however, so far that it remains an open question whether reindeer further to the east are R. t. fennicus as well.
• Woodland Caribou (R. tarandus caribou), or forest caribou, once found in the North American taiga (boreal forest) from Alaska to Newfoundland and Labrador and as far south as New England and Washington. Woodland Caribou have disappeared from most of their original southern range and are considered "threatened" where they remain, with the notable exception of the Migratory Woodland Caribou of northern Quebec and Labrador, Canada. The name of the Cariboo district of central British Columbia relates to their once-large numbers there, but they have almost vanished from that area in the last century. A herd is protected in the Caribou Mountains in Alberta.
• Queen Charlotte Islands caribou (R. tarandus dawsoni) from Haida Gwaii was believed to represent a distinct subspecies. It became extinct at the beginning of the 20th century. However, recent DNA analysis from mitochondrial DNA of the remains from those reindeer suggest, that the animals from Haida Gwaii were not genetically distinct from the Canadian mainland reindeer subspecies.^[18]

Rangifer.net has a map of subspecies ranges.

Reindeer in Christmas

Santa Claus's reindeer

Main article: Santa Claus's reindeer

Two Scottish reindeer relax after pulling Santa's sleigh, at the switching on of Christmas lights

Santa Claus' sleigh is pulled by flying reindeer. These were first named in the 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, where they are called Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder, and Blixem. Dunder was later changed to Donder and — in other works — Donner (in German, "thunder"), and Blixem was later changed to Bliksem, then Blitzen (German for "lightning"). Some consider Rudolph as part of the group as well, though he was not part of the original named work referenced previously. Rudolph was added to the story by Robert L. May in 1939 as "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

Heraldry and symbols

The Caribou Monument at the World War I Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial.

Several Norwegian municipalities have one or more reindeer depicted in their coat-of-arms: Eidfjord, Porsanger, Rendalen, Tromsø, Vadsø, and Vågå. The historic province of Västerbotten in Sweden has a reindeer in its coat-of-arms. The present Västerbotten County has very different borders and uses the reindeer combined with other symbols in its coat-of-arms. The city of Piteå also has a reindeer. The logo for Umeå University features three reindeer.

The Canadian quarter features a depiction of a Caribou on one face. The caribou is the official provincial animal of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. A caribou statue was erected at the center of the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial, marking the spot in France where hundreds of soldiers from Newfoundland were killed and wounded in the First World War.

References

• Reindeer Roundup! A K-12 Educator's Guide to Reindeer in Alaska. 2004. Carrie Bucki with Greg Finstad and Tammy A. Smith. Reindeer Research Program, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

External links

• 1935 Reindeer Herding in the Northwest Territories
• Reindeers.info - Articles and information about Reindeer
• General information on Caribou and Reindeer
• Human Role in Reindeer/Caribou Systems
• Wild reindeer areas in Norway
• Reindeer Studies in South Georgia and Norway
• Reindeer hunting as World Heritage - a ten thousand year-long tradition
• Adaptations To Life In The Arctic - Instructional slide-show, University of Alaska
• Villreinen magazine (Norwegian for Wild Reindeer)
• Rangifer is the world’s only scientific journal dealing exclusively with husbandry, management and biology of arctic and northern ungulates

Caribou-specific links (North America)

• Mammal Fact Sheets: Caribou
• Frequently Asked Questions about Caribou from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
• Caribou and You - Campaign by CPAWS to protect the Woodland caribou, a species at risk in Canada.
• Newfoundland Five-Year Caribou Strategy Seeks to Address Declining Populations

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