FAYZ WORLD - SUGARWOLF'S ANIMAL PARK

All About Reindeer

Rangifer tarandus

Nenets reindeer sled
Photo © William Fitzhugh

     The reindeer (also called the caribou) is a medium-sized member of the deer family. The genus and species of the reindeer are Rangifer tarandus. Reindeer are strong runners and very good swimmers. It is found in Arctic tundra, forests, and mountains in Russia, Northern China, Canada, Alaska, and Scandinavia. Some reindeer migrate in huge herds from the coastal Arctic to the tundra. Reindeer have a life span of about 10 years in the wild.
     An average reindeer is about 4 feet (1.2 m) tall at the shoulder and is about 6 feet (1.8 m) long. Unlike most other types of deer, both bulls (males) and cows (females) have antlers. The antlers are shed each year and regrow. Reindeer have very wide hooves, a broad muzzle, and thick brown fur. The thick fur traps air, which insulates the reindeer from the cold and helps the reindeer float in water. The reindeer is an herbivore (a plant-eater) that spends most of the day eating. During the winter, reindeer eat lichens and moss; in warmer months, they also eat leaves and herbs.
     The reindeer cows carry their fetus from Sept/Oct until May/June when the calves are born, the development of the unborn is somewhat delayed so the calves will get born in the later part of spring when at least some of the snow have melted. The cow will then have easier access to food, and so will be able to produce more milk for their young. These adaptations to the arctic have made the reindeers a very successful species and one can find reindeers around the whole northern polar circle, also in Mongolia and a small area of China closest to the Mongolian border.
     People began to tame wild caribou long ago in Eurasia. Some anthropological studies suggest that this may have happened in the southern Altai mountain region about 5,000 years ago. All domesticated reindeer may have derived from those stocks, for modern attempts to domesticate animals from wild caribou populations have not been successful. Initially hunters may have learned that tamed deer on a leash could help them sneak closer to wild herds. Later tame animals were used to pull sleds, and in some cultures they were saddled and ridden. Eventually people kept herds as a dependable source of food, hides and transport.
     Today there are Native peoples all across northern Eurasia, from Scandanavia to the Bering Strait, who base their economies upon the herding of reindeer. Modern uses include the former ones, plus commercial sales of meat and some hides. Recently, the sale of antlers to the Orient has become important. In the Russian Republic today, reindeer number about 2,250,000.

     Different reindeer varieties have been developed in Asia to suit local conditions and human needs, including transportation. Chukchis have a breed that appears to be the product of longer domestication than most. Excellent for meat production, they are not so good for pulling sleds. The Chukchis may have begun keeping larger herds for commercial meat and hide production in response to the 17th century arrival of Russians. Under the Soviet system Chukotkan herders were organized into brigades, each responsible for 500 to 2,000 reindeer. Larger numbers of reindeer were kept on the Chukotsk Peninsula and the long migrations to the west discontinued. There are no forests on the peninsula and winter can be particularly difficult; nearly half the reindeer died in the winter of 1984.
     Life in a reindeer camp remains traditional in many ways, based on the mutual dependence of reindeer and people. Reindeer hides supply beautiful, light and warm clothes enabling people to work in the severe cold. Winter hides, one of the best available natural insulators, furnish tents, provide bedding and, sewn together with sinew, become the winter coverings of the large round tents called yarangas.
     Because of their sheer numbers, caribou and reindeer can have considerable effects on their habitat, such as overgrazing of essential lichens. Domesticated herds have displaced Chukotkan caribou. The wild animals have difficulty subsisting in areas already grazed by reindeer. In addition, herders tend to shoot caribou present near their herds, since caribou compete with reindeer for forage and make herding difficult. Still, there are signs of recent increases in the caribou population of western Chukotka.
     Other effects of reindeer herding are not as obvious. Herds can threaten ground-nesting birds by trampling nests and eggs, and even eating eggs. Potential predators like wolves are often killed to protect the herds. Vehicles with tank-like tracks, used to supply reindeer camps in Chukotka, destroy tundra and leave many long-term scars on the land when used on bare tundra in summer.
     Other human activities, including human-caused tundra fires, mining and oil development can degrade reindeer/caribou habitat. Another threat to the tundra, particularly to lichens on which caribou and reindeer depend, comes from atmospheric pollution generated locally and in distant regions.

Source: U.S. National Park Service
Reindeer / Caribou
Caribou & Reindeer Enchanted Learning

Sequenced by Barry Taylor