22 Facts About Reindeer

Reindeer, known as the caribou in North America, is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of range of caribou extends from Alaska through the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut into the boreal forest and south through the Canadian Rockies.

Reindeer is the European name for the species while in North America, the species is known as Caribou.

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.

Reindeer have specialised counter-current vascular heat exchange in their nasal passages.

Reindeer has large feet with crescent-shaped cloven hooves for walking in snow or swamps.

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Reindeer hooves adapt to the season: in the summer, when the tundra is soft and wet, the footpads become sponge-like and provide extra traction.

Reindeer have developed adaptations for optimal metabolic efficiency during warm months as well as for during cold months.

Reindeer are osteophagous, they are known to gnaw and partly consume shed antlers as a dietary supplement and in some extreme cases will cannibalise each other's antlers before shedding.

Reindeer herded by the Chukchis have been known to devour mushrooms enthusiastically in late summer.

Reindeer are good swimmers, and in one case, the entire body of a reindeer was found in the stomach of a Greenland shark, a species found in the far northern Atlantic.

Reindeer has an important economic role for all circumpolar peoples, including the Sami, the Swedes, the Norwegians, the Finns and the Northwestern Russians in Europe, the Nenets, the Khanty, the Evenks, the Yukaghirs, the Chukchi and the Koryaks in Asia and the Inuit in North America.

Reindeer were introduced into Alaska near the end of the 19th century; they interbred with the native caribou subspecies there.

Reindeer antlers are powdered and sold as an aphrodisiac, or as a nutritional or medicinal supplement, to Asian markets.

Reindeer's grandmother was a member of the Caribou Clan, who travelled with the caribou as a means to survive.

Reindeer herding has been vital for the subsistence of several Eurasian nomadic indigenous peoples living in the circumpolar Arctic zone such as the Sami, Nenets, and Komi.

Reindeer are used to provide renewable sources and reliable transportation.

Reindeer husbandry is common in Fennoscandia and the Russian North.

Reindeer is the only successfully semi-domesticated deer on a large scale in the world.

Reindeer have been herded for centuries by several Arctic and subarctic peoples, including the Sami, the Nenets and the Yakuts.

Reindeer are not considered fully domesticated, as they generally roam free on pasture grounds.

Reindeer were imported first from Siberia and later from Norway.

Reindeer herding is of central importance for the local economies of small communities in sparsely populated rural Sapmi.