Reindeer Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The Reindeer, known as Caribou in North America, is an Arctic-dwelling deer (Rangifer tarandus).
Occurrence. It exists in Scandinavia including Iceland. In 1952, deers were re-implanted in Scotland since the natural stock died out in th 10th century. In Russian Europe in Spitsbergen and furthermore, Northen Russia including Novaya Zemlya. In Russian Asia, to the Pacific Ocean. In North America on Greenland, Canada and Alaska. Domesticated deers are mostly found in Northen Scandinavia and Russia, and wild deers are mostly found in North America, Greenland and Iceland.
That's it, its natural occurence 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 (for the Scandinavian race) 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 molarss on both the top and bottom.
Local abbrevations. 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)".
Diseases and threats. Natural threats to caribou include avalanches and the predators wolves, wolverines, lynxeses, bears, etc. In mesolithic and neolithic periods, Europeans hunted them, too.
Usage. Wild caribou are still hunted in North America. In the traditional lifestyle of the Inuit people, the caribou is a source of food, clothing, shelter and tools.
The reindeer has (or have had) an important economical role for all circumpolar peoples, e.g. Sami, Nenets, Khants, Evenks, Yukaghirs, Tjuktjer and Korjaker in Eurasia. It is beleived 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.
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 splits apart from the group and becomes lonely, while the remaining herd consists mostly of females, usually a matriarchy.
The picture of reindeer in non-Arctic countries. Popular Christmas myth has it that they are used by Santa Claus to move his sleigh around during his trip to distribute toys to children on the night before Christmas. Because of this, they are often associated with the holiday.
Subspecies
Fictional reindeer
Caribou is also the artist name of electronic musician Dan Snaith, who used to be known as Manitoba.
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