The
reindeer (
Rangifer tarandus), also known as
caribou in
North America,
[3] is a
species of
deer with
circumpolar distribution, native to
arctic,
subarctic,
tundra,
boreal, and mountainous regions of northern Europe, Siberia, and North America.
[2] This includes both
sedentary and
migratory populations.
While overall widespread and numerous,
[2] some of its
subspecies are rare and at least one has already become
extinct.
[4][5] For this reason, it is considered to be vulnerable by the
IUCN.
Reindeer vary considerably in colour and size. Both sexes can grow
antlers annually, although the proportion of females that grow antlers varies greatly between population and season.
[6] Antlers are typically larger on males.
Hunting of wild reindeer and
herding of semi-
domesticated reindeer (for meat, hides, antlers, milk and transportation) are important to several Arctic and Subarctic peoples.
[7] In
Lapland, reindeer pull
pulks.
[8]
In traditional festive legend,
Santa Claus's reindeer pull a sleigh through the night sky to help
Santa Claus deliver gifts to children on
Christmas Eve.
Name etymology
The name
Rangifer, which
Carl Linnaeus chose for the reindeer
genus, was used by
Albertus Magnus in his
De animalibus, fol. Liber 22, Cap. 268: "Dicitur Rangyfer quasi ramifer". This word may go back to a
Saami word
raingo.
[9] For the origin of the word
tarandus, which Linnaeus chose as the specific
epithet, he made reference to
Ulisse Aldrovandi's
Quadrupedum omnium bisulcorum historia fol. 859–863, Cap. 30: De Tarando (1621). However,
Aldrovandi – and before him
Konrad Gesner[10] – thought that
rangifer and
tarandus were two separate animals.
[11] In any case, the
tarandos name goes back to
Aristotle and
Theophrastus – see 'In history' below.
Because of its importance to many cultures,
Rangifer tarandus and some of its subspecies have names in many languages. The name
rein (-deer) is of
Norse origin (
Old Norse hreinn, which again goes back to
Proto-Germanic *hrainaz and
Proto-Indo-European *kroinos meaning "horned animal"). In the
Uralic languages,
Sami *poatsoj (in
Northern Sami boazu, in
Lule Sami boatsoj, in
Pite Sami båtsoj, in
Southern Sami bovtse, in
Inari Sami puásui),
Meadow Mari pücö and
Udmurt pudžej,
all referring to domesticated reindeer, go back to *pocaw, an Iranian
loan word deriving from Proto-Indo-European *peḱu-, meaning "cattle".
The Finnish name
poro may also stem from the same.
[12]
The word
deer was originally broader in meaning, but became more specific over time. In
Middle English,
der (
Old English dēor) meant a wild animal of any kind. This was in contrast to
cattle,
which then meant any sort of domestic livestock that was easy to
collect and remove from the land, from the idea of personal-property
ownership (rather than
real estate property) and related to modern
chattel (property) and
capital. Cognates of Old English
dēor in other dead
Germanic languages have the general sense of
animal, such as
Old High German tior,
Old Norse djúr or
dýr,
Gothic dius,
Old Saxon dier, and
Old Frisian diar.
[13]
The name
caribou comes, through French, from
Mi'kmaq qalipu, meaning "snow shoveler", referring to its habit of pawing through the snow for food.
[14] In
Inuktitut, spoken in eastern Arctic North America, the caribou is known by the name
tuktu.
[15][16] In the western North American Arctic, the term used by the Iñupiat is
tuttu, or
tutu.[17]
Taxonomy and evolution
The species taxonomic name
Rangifer tarandus was defined by
Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The subspecies taxonomic name,
Rangifer tarandus caribou was defined by
Gmelin in 1788.
Based on Banfield's often-cited
A Revision of the Reindeer and Caribou, Genus Rangifer (1961),
[18] R. t. caboti (
Labrador caribou),
R. t. osborni (Osborn's caribou—from
British Columbia) and
R. t. terraenovae (
Newfoundland caribou) were considered invalid and included in
R. t. caribou.
Some recent authorities have considered them all valid, even suggesting that they are quite distinct. 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.
[19][20][Notes 1]
Geist (2007) argued that the "true woodland caribou, the uniformly
dark, small-maned type with the frontally emphasized, flat-beamed
antlers", which is "scattered thinly along the southern rim of North
American caribou distribution" has been incorrectly classified. He
affirms that "true woodland caribou is very rare, in very great
difficulties and requires the most urgent of attention."
[19]
In 2005, an analysis of
mtDNA
found differences between the caribou from Newfoundland, Labrador,
south-western Canada and south-eastern Canada, but maintained all in
R. t caribou.
[22]
Mallory and Hillis argued that, "Although the taxonomic designations
reflect evolutionary events, they do not appear to reflect current
ecological conditions. In numerous instances, populations of the same
subspecies have evolved different demographic and behavioural
adaptations, while populations from separate subspecies have evolved
similar demographic and behavioural patterns... "[U]nderstanding ecotype
in relation to existing ecological constraints and releases may be more
important than the taxonomic relationships between populations."
[23]
Current classifications of
Rangifer tarandus, either with
prevailing taxonomy on subspecies, designations based on ecotypes, and
natural population groupings, fail to capture "the variability of
caribou across their range in Canada" needed for effective species
conservation and management.
[24]
"Across the range of a species, individuals may display considerable
morphological, genetic, and behavioural variability reflective of both
plasticity and adaptation to local environments."
[25] COSEWIC developed Designated Unit (DU) attribution to add to classifications already in use.
[24]
Subspecies
The canonical
Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.) recognizes fourteen subspecies, two of which
are extinct.
[26]
Some of the
Rangifer tarandus subspecies may be further divided by
ecotype
depending on several behavioural factors – predominant habitat use
(northern, tundra, mountain, forest, boreal forest, forest-dwelling,
woodland, woodland (mountain), woodland (boreal), woodland (migratory),
spacing (dispersed or aggregated), and migration (sedentary or
migratory).
[28][29][30]
The "glacial-interglacial cycles of the upper Pleistocene had a major influence on the evolution" of
Rangifer tarandus and other Arctic and sub-Arctic species. Isolation of
Rangifer tarandus
in refugia during the last glacial – the Wisconsin in North America and
the Weichselian in Eurasia-shaped "intraspecific genetic variability"
particularly between the North American and Eurasian parts of the
Arctic.
[3]
In 1986 Kurtén reported that the oldest reindeer fossil was an
"antler of tundra reindeer type from the sands of Süssenborn" in the
Pleistocene (
Günz) period (680,000 to 620,000 BP).
[1] By the 4-Würm period (110-70,000 to 12–10,000) its European range was very extensive. Reindeer occurred in
... Spain, Italy and southern Russia. 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. The supply began to get low during the Mesolithic, when reindeers retired to the north.
— Kurtén 1968:170
"In spite of the great variation, all the Pleistocene and living reindeer belong to the same species."
[1]
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
last glacial period 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.
[citation needed]
Biology and behaviour
Physical characteristics
Reindeer losing the velvet layer under which a new antler is growing, an annual process
In most populations both sexes grow
antlers; the reindeer is the only
cervid species in which females grow them as well as males.
[31]
In the Scandinavian populations, old males' antlers fall off in
December, young males' fall off in the early spring, and females' fall
off in the summer. The antlers typically have two separate groups of
points, lower and upper. There is considerable variation between
subspecies in the size of the antlers (e.g. they are rather small and
spindly in the northernmost subspecies),
[32] but on average the bull reindeer's antlers are the second largest of any extant deer, after the
moose.
In the largest subspecies, the antlers of large males can range up to
100 cm (39 in) in width and 135 cm (53 in) in beam length. They have the
largest antlers relative to body size among living deer species.
[31]
The colour of the
fur
varies considerably, both between individuals and depending on season
and subspecies. Northern populations, which usually are relatively
small, are whiter, while southern populations, which typically are
relatively large, are darker. This can be seen well in North America,
where the northernmost subspecies, the
Peary caribou, is the whitest and smallest subspecies of the continent, while the southernmost subspecies, the
woodland caribou, is the darkest and largest.
[32] The
coat has two layers of fur: a dense
woolly undercoat and longer-haired overcoat consisting of hollow, air-filled hairs.
Like
moose, 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 sponge-like 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")
[33][34] through the snow to their favorite food, a
lichen known as
reindeer moss.
The females usually measure 162–205 cm (64–81 in) in length and weigh 80–120 kg (180–260 lb).
[35]
The males (or "bulls") are typically larger (to an extent which varies
between the different subspecies), measuring 180–214 cm (71–84 in) in
length and usually weighing 159–182 kg (351–401 lb).
[35] Exceptionally large males have weighed as much as 318 kg (701 lb).
[35]
Shoulder height is typically 85 to 150 cm (33 to 59 in), and the tail
is 14 to 20 cm (5.5 to 7.9 in) long. The reindeer from Svalbard are the
smallest. They are also relatively short-legged and may have a shoulder
height of as little as 80 cm (31 in),
[36] thereby following
Allen's rule.
The knees of many species of reindeer are adapted to produce a clicking sound as they walk.
[37]
The sounds originate in the tendons of the knees and may be audible
from ten meters away. The frequency of the knee-clicks is one of a range
of signals that establish relative positions on a dominance scale among
reindeer. "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."
[38]
A study by researchers from
University College London
in 2011 revealed that reindeer can see light with wavelengths as short
as 320 nm (i.e. in the ultraviolet range), considerably below the human
threshold of 400 nm. It is thought that this ability helps them to
survive in the Arctic, because many objects that blend into the
landscape in light visible to humans, such as urine and fur, produce
sharp contrasts in ultraviolet.
[39] A study at the
University of Tromsø
has confirmed that "Arctic reindeer eyes change in colour through the
seasons from gold through to blue to help them better detect
predators...".
[40]
Diet
Reindeer are
ruminants, having a four-chambered stomach. They mainly eat
lichens in winter, especially
reindeer lichen – a unique adaptation among mammals – and they are the only animals except for some
gastropods in which the
enzyme lichenase, which breaks down
lichenin to
glucose, has been found.
[41] 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, especially in the spring when they are nutritionally stressed,
[42] they will also feed on small rodents such as
lemmings,
[43] fish such as
Arctic char, and
bird eggs.
[44] Reindeer herded by the
Chukchis have been known to devour mushrooms enthusiastically in late summer.
[45]
Reproduction and life-cycle
Mating occurs from late September 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 his body reserves.
[46]
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 autumn when they become independent from their mothers.
[46]
Social structure, migration and range
The size of the antlers plays a significant role in establishing the hierarchy in the group.
[47]
Some populations of the North American caribou, for example many
herds in the subspecies barren-ground caribou and some woodland caribou
in
Ungava and
Labrador,
migrate the farthest of any terrestrial mammal, travelling up to 5,000 km (3,000 mi) a year, and covering 1,000,000 km
2 (400,000 sq mi).
[2][48] Other North American populations, the woodland caribou (boreal) for example, are largely sedentary.
[49] In Europe populations have a shorter migration. Island herds such as the subspecies
R. t. pearsoni and
R. t. platyrhynchus
make local movements. Migrating reindeer can be negatively affected by
parasite loads. Severely infected individuals are weak and probably have
shortened lifespans, but parasite levels vary between populations.
Infections create an effect known as
culling: infected migrating animals are less likely to complete the migration.
[50]
Normally travelling about 19–55 km (12–34 mi) a day while migrating, the caribou can run at speeds of 60–80 km/h (37–50 mph).
[2] Young caribou can already outrun an Olympic sprinter when only a day old.
[51]
During the spring migration smaller herds will group together to form
larger herds of 50,000 to 500,000 animals, but during autumn migrations
the groups become smaller, and the reindeer begin to mate. During
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, 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.
[2]
As an adaptation to their Arctic environment, they have lost their
circadian rhythm.
[52]
Ecology
Distribution and habitat
Originally, the reindeer was found in
Scandinavia, eastern Europe,
Greenland, Russia,
Mongolia, and northern China north of the
50th latitude. In North America, it was found in Canada,
Alaska, and the northern conterminous USA from
Washington to
Maine. In the 19th century, it was apparently still present in southern
Idaho.
[2] Even in historical times, it probably occurred naturally in
Ireland. During the late
Pleistocene era, reindeer occurred as far south as
Nevada and
Tennessee in North America, and as far south as
Spain in Europe.
[47][53]
Today, wild reindeer have disappeared from these areas, especially from
the southern parts, where it vanished almost everywhere. Large
populations of wild reindeer are still found in
Norway,
Finland,
Siberia, Greenland, Alaska, and Canada.
According to the Grubb (2005),
Rangifer tarandus is
"circumboreal in the tundra and taiga" from "Svalbard, Norway, Finland,
Russia, Alaska (USA) and Canada including most Arctic islands, and
Greenland, south to northern
Mongolia,
China (Inner Mongolia; now only domesticated or feral?),
Sakhalin Island, and USA (Northern Idaho and the Great Lakes region). Reindeer were introduced to, and feral in, Iceland,
Kerguelen Islands,
South Georgia Island,
Pribilof Islands,
St. Matthew Island."
[26]
There is strong regional variation in
Rangifer herd size.
There are large population differences among individual herds, and the
size of individual herds has varied greatly since 1970. The largest of
all herds (Taimyr, Russia) has varied between 400,000 and 1,000,000; the
second largest herd (George River, Canada) has varied between 28,000
and 385,000.
While
Rangifer is a widespread and numerous genus in the northern
Holarctic, being present in both
tundra and
taiga (boreal forest),
[47] by 2013, many herds had "unusually low numbers" and their winter ranges in particular were smaller than they used to be.
[54] Caribou and reindeer numbers have fluctuated historically, but many herds are in decline across their range.
[55] This global decline is linked to
climate change for northern, migratory herds and industrial disturbance of habitat for non-migratory herds.
[56]
In November 2016, it was reported that more than 81,000 reindeer in
Russia had died as a result of climate change. Longer autumns leading to
increased amounts of freezing rain created a few inches of ice over
lichen, starving many reindeer.
[57]
Predators
Reindeer standing on snow to avoid blood-sucking insects.
A variety of predators prey heavily on reindeer.
Golden eagles prey on calves and are the most prolific hunter on calving grounds.
[58] Wolverines will take newborn calves or birthing cows, as well as (less commonly) infirm adults.
Brown bears and
polar bears
prey on reindeer of all ages, but like the wolverines they are most
likely to attack weaker animals, such as calves and sick deer, since
healthy adult reindeer can usually outpace a bear. The
gray wolf
is the most effective natural predator of adult reindeer and sometimes
takes large numbers, especially during the winter. Some wolf packs as
well as individual grizzly bears in Canada may follow and live off of a
particular reindeer herd year round.
[citation needed]
As carrion, reindeer are fed on opportunistically by
foxes,
hawks, and
ravens. Blood-sucking insects, such as
black flies and
mosquitoes, are a plague to reindeer during the summer and can cause enough stress to inhibit feeding and calving behaviours.
[59]
An adult reindeer will lose perhaps about 1 liter (about 2 US pints) of
blood to biting insects for every week it spends in the tundra.
[51] The population numbers of some of these predators is influenced by the migration of reindeer.
[citation needed]
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, although this was possibly a case of scavenging, considering the dissimilarity of habitats between the
ungulate and the large, slow-moving fish.
[60]
Rangifer tarandus by country
Russia
In
2013, the Taimyr herd in Russia was the largest herd in the world. In
2000, the herd increased to 1,000,000 but by 2009, there were 700,000
animals.
[54][61] In the 1950s, there were 110,000.
[62]
There are three large herds of migratory tundra wild reindeer in
central Siberia's Yakutia region: Lena-Olenek, Yana-Indigirka and
Sundrun herds. While the population of the Lena-Olenek herd is stable,
the others are declining.
[62]
Further east again, the Chukotka herd is also in decline. In 1971,
there were 587,000 animals. They recovered after a severe decline in
1986, to only 32,200 individuals, but their numbers fell again.
[63] According to Kolpashikov, by 2009 there were less than 70,000.
[62]
North America
There are four living subspecies of
R. tarandus, locally known in North America as caribou:
R. t. granti (
Porcupine caribou),
R. t. caribou subdivided into ecotypes:
woodland (boreal),
woodland (migratory), woodland (montane),
R. t. groenlandicus and
R. t. pearyi.
In North America, because of its vast range in a wide diversity of ecosystems, the subspecies
Rangifer tarandus caribou is further distinguished by a number of ecotypes, including
boreal woodland caribou, mountain woodland caribou and migratory woodland caribou).
[28][29][30]
Populations—caribou that do not migrate—or herds—those that do
migrate—may not fit into narrow ecotypes. For example, Banfield's 1961
classification of the migratory George River Caribou Herd, in the Ungava
region of Quebec, as subspecies
Rangifer tarandus caribou, woodland caribou, remains—although other woodland caribou are mainly sedentary.
Rangifer tarandus is "endangered in Canada in regions such as south-east British Columbia at the Canadian-USA border, along the
Columbia,
Kootenay and
Kootenai rivers and around
Kootenay Lake.
Rangifer tarandus is endangered in the United States in
Idaho and
Washington.
R. t. pearyi is on the IUCN endangered list." According to Geist, the
"woodland caribou is highly endangered throughout its distribution right
into Ontario."
[26]
United States
Although there are remnant populations of
R. t. caribou boreal woodland caribou
in the northern United States, most of U.S. caribou populations are in
Alaska. There are four herds in Alaska, the Western Arctic herd,
Teshekpuk Lake herd, the Central Arctic herd and the Porcupine herd.
The
Western Arctic Caribou Herd
is the largest of the three. The Western Arctic herd reached a low of
75,000 in the mid-1970s. In 1997 the 90,000 WACH changed their migration
and wintered on
Seward Peninsula.
Alaska's reindeer herding industry has been concentrated on Seward
Peninsula ever since the first shipment of reindeer was imported from
eastern Siberia in 1892 as part of the Reindeer Project, an initiative
to replace whale meat in the diet of the indigenous people of the
region.
[64]
For many years it was believed that the geography of the peninsula
would prevent migrating caribou from mingling with domesticated reindeer
who might otherwise join caribou herds when they left an area.
[64][65] However, in 1997 the domesticated reindeer joined the Western Arctic Caribou Herd on their summer migration and disappeared.
[66] The WACH reached a peak of 490,000 in 2003 and then declined to 325,000 in 2011.
[35][67]
In 2008, the Teshekpuk Lake herd had 64,107 animals and the Central Arctic herd had 67,000.
[68][69]
Male Porcupine caribou R. t. granti
The
Porcupine caribou or
Grant's caribou (
Rangifer tarandus granti) is a
subspecies with a vast range that includes northeastern
Alaska and the
Yukon,
and is therefore cooperatively managed by government agencies and
aboriginal peoples from both countries. It resembles another subspecies,
barren-ground caribou (
R. t. groenlandicus).
[20][22]
Migratory caribou herds are named after their birthing grounds, in this case the
Porcupine River,
which runs through a large part of the range of the Porcupine herd.
Though numbers fluctuate, the herd comprises approximately 169,000
animals (based on a July 2010 photocensus).
[35] 2,500 km (1,600 mi) a year land migration between their winter range and calving grounds on the
Beaufort Sea, is the longest of any land mammal on earth. They are the traditional food of the
Gwich'in, a
First Nations/
Alaska Native people, the
Inupiat,
Inuvialuit,
Hän, and
Northern Tutchone. There is currently controversy over whether possible future oil drilling on the coastal plains of the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,
encompassing much of the Porcupine caribou calving grounds, will have a
severe negative impact on the caribou population or whether the caribou
population will grow.
Unlike many other
Rangifer tarandus subspecies and their
ecotypes, the Porcupine herd is stable at relatively high numbers, but
the 2013 photo-census was not counted by January 2014.
[62]
The peak population in 1989 of 178,000 animals was followed by a
decline by 2001 to 123,000. However, by 2010, there was a recovery and
an increase to 169,000 animals.
[62][70]
Canada
Nunavut
The
barren-ground caribou subspecies
R. t. groenlandicus,,
[18]
a long-distance migrant, includes large herds in the Northwest
Territories and in Nunavut, for example the Beverly, the Ahiak and
Qamanirjuaq herds. In 1996, the population of the Ahiak herd was
approximately 250,000 animals.
Ahiak, Beverly, Qamanirjuaq herds
The Ahiak, Beverly,
Qamanirjuaq herds are barren-ground caribou.
"The Beverly herd’s crossing of the Thelon River to its traditional
calving grounds near Beverly Lake was part of the lives of the Dene
aboriginal people for 8000 years, as revealed by an unbroken
archaeological record of deep layers of caribou bones and stone tools in
the banks of the Thelon River (Gordon 2005)."
[71][72]
The Beverly Herd (located primarily in Saskatchewan, Northwest
Territories; portions in Nunavut, Manitoba, Alberta) and the Qamanirjuaq
Herd (located primarily in Manitoba, Nunavut; portions in southeastern
NWT, northeastern Saskatchewan) fall under the auspices of the Beverly
and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board.
[73]
The Beverly herd, whose range spans the tundra from northern Manitoba
and Saskatchewan and well into the Northwest Territories and Nunavut,
had a peak population in 1994 of 276,000
[74][75] or 294,000,
[62]
but by 2011 there were approximately 124,000 caribou in the Beverly
herd and 83,300 in the Ahiak herd. The calving grounds of the Beverly
caribou herd are located around
Queen Maud Gulf but the herd shifted its traditional birthing area.
[76]
Caribou management agencies are concerned that deterioration and
disturbance of habitat along with "parasites, predation and poor
weather"
[74]
are contributing to a cycling down of most caribou populations. It was
suggested the Ahiak and Beverly herds switched calving grounds and the
Beverly may have moved "near the western
Queen Maud Gulf coast to the north of the herd’s "traditional" calving ground in the Gary Lakes area north of
Baker Lake."
[77]
The "Beverly herd may have declined (similar to other Northwest
Territories herds), and cows switched to the neighbouring Ahiak herd to
maintain the advantages of gregarious calving."
[78]
By 2011 there were approximately 124,000 caribou in the combined
Beverly/Ahiak herd which represents a "50% or a 75% decline from the
1994 population estimate for the Beverly Herd."
[62]
The barren-ground caribou population on
Southampton Island, Nunavut declined by almost 75%, from about 30,000 caribou in 1997 to 7,800 caribou in 2011.
[62][79]
Peary caribou on Baffin Island
The Peary caribou is a relatively small and pale subspecies found in the
tundra of far northern North America. Unsurprisingly, it is part of the
group known as tundra reindeer.
The
R. t. pearyi (Peary caribou), the smallest subspecies in North America, known as
Tuktu in Inuktitut, are found in the northern islands of
Nunavut
and the Northwest Territories. They remain at low numbers after severe
declines. On Baffin Island, the largest Arctic island, the population of
Peary caribou peaked in the early 1990s to approximately 60,000 to
180,000.
[80]
By 2012, in northern Baffin Island caribou numbers were considered to
be at a "low in the cycle after a high in the 1990s" and in south Baffin
Island, the population was estimated as between 1,065 and 2,067.
[81]
Northwest Territories
There are four barren-ground caribou herds in the Northwest Territories—Cape Bathurst, Bluenose West, Bluenose East and
Bathurst.
[62] The Bluenose East caribou herd began a recovery with a population of approximately 122,000 in 2010.
[82] which is being credited to the establishment of
Tuktut Nogait National Park.
[83] According to T. Davison 2010, CARMA 2011, the three other herds "declined 84–93% from peak sizes in the mid-1980s and 1990s.
[62]
R. t. caribou
The subspecies
R. t. caribou commonly known as woodland caribou, is divided into ecotypes:
boreal woodland caribou (also known as forest-dwelling), woodland caribou (boreal), mountain woodland caribou, and migratory woodland caribou.
[clarification needed]
Caribou are classified by ecotype depending on several behavioural
factors – predominant habitat use (northern, tundra, mountain, forest,
boreal forest, forest-dwelling), spacing (dispersed or aggregated) and
migration (sedentary or migratory).
[28][29][30]
In Canada, the national meta-population of the sedentary boreal ecotype spans the
boreal forest from the
Northwest Territories to
Labrador. They prefer lichen-rich mature forests
[84] and mainly live in marshes, bogs, lakes, and river regions.
[85][86] The historic range of the boreal woodland caribou covered over half of present-day Canada,
[87] stretching from Alaska to
Newfoundland and Labrador and as far south as
New England,
Idaho, and Washington. Woodland caribou have disappeared from most of
their original southern range. The boreal woodland was designated as
threatened in 2002.
[88] In 2011 there were approximately 34,000 boreal caribou in 51 ranges remaining in Canada.
[89]
George River caribou herd (GRCH)
The migratory George River caribou herd (GRCH), in the
Ungava region of
Quebec and
Labrador in eastern Canada was once the world's largest herd with 800,000–900,000 animals. Although it is categorized as a subspecies
Rangifer tarandus caribou,
[18]
the woodland caribou, the GRCH is migratory woodland caribou and like
the barren-ground caribou it's ecotype may be tundra caribou, Arctic,
northern of migratory, not forest-dwelling and sedentary like most
woodland caribou ecotypes. It is unlike most woodland caribou in that it
is not sedentary. Since the mid-1990s, the herd declined sharply and by
2010, it was reduced to 74,131—a drop of up to 92%.
[90]
A 2011 survey confirms a continuing decline of the George River
migratory caribou herd population. By 2012 it was estimated to be about
27,600 animals, down from 385,000 in 2001 and 74,131 in 2010."
[54][90][91]
Leaf River caribou herd (LRCH)
Leaf River caribou
Caribou crossing Leaf River
The
Leaf River caribou herd (LRCH),
[92] another migratory forest-tundra ecotype of the boreal woodland caribou, near the coast of
Hudson Bay, increased from 270 000 individuals in 1991 to 628 000 in 2001.
[93] By 2011 the herd had decreased to 430 000 caribou.
[54][90][94]
According to an international study on caribou populations, the George
River and Leaf River herds, and other herds that migrate from Nunavik,
Quebec and insular Newfoundland, could be threatened with extinction by
2080.
[91]
Queen Charlotte Islands caribou
The
Queen Charlotte Islands caribou (
R. tarandus dawsoni) from the
Queen Charlotte Islands 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 the
Queen Charlotte Islands were not genetically distinct from the Canadian
mainland reindeer subspecies.
[5]
Greenland
According to Kolpashikov et al. (2013) there were four main populations of wild
R. t. groenlandicus, barren-ground caribou, in west Greenland in 2013.
[62] The Kangerlussuaq-Sisimiut caribou herd, the largest had a population of around 98,000 animals in 2007.
[62][95]
The "second largest, Akia-Maniitsoq decreased from an estimated 46,000
in 2001 to about 17,400 in 2010. According to Cuyler, "one possible
cause might be the topography, which prevents hunter access in the
former while permitting access in the latter."
[62]
Norway
The last remaining wild tundra reindeer in Europe are found in portions of southern Norway.
[96]
In southern Norway in the mountain ranges, there are about
30,000–35,000 reindeer with 23 different populations. The largest herd
with about 10,000 individuals, is at Hardangervidda. By 2013 the
greatest challenges to management were "loss of habitat and migration
corridors to piecemeal infrastructure development and abandonment of
reindeer habitat as a result of human activities and disturbance."
[54]
Norway is now preparing to apply for nomination as a
World Heritage Site for areas with traces and traditions of reindeer hunting in
Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park,
Reinheimen National Park and
Rondane National Park in Central Sør-Norge (
Southern Norway). There is in these parts of Norway an unbroken tradition of reindeer hunting from post-glacial Stone Age until today.
[citation needed]
On 29 August 2016, the
Norwegian Environment Agency announced the death of 323 reindeer by the effects of a lightning strike in
Hardangervidda.
[97]
Svalbard reindeer
Characteristically small and relatively short-legged reindeer from
Svalbard
The Svalbard reindeer subspecies
R. t. platyrhynchus from
Svalbard island is very small compared to other subspecies (a phenomenon known as
insular dwarfism),
with females having a length of approximately 150 cm (59 in), and a
weight around 53 kg (117 lb) in the spring and 70 kg (150 lb) in the
autumn.
[36] Males are approximately 160 cm (63 in) long, and weigh around 65 kg (143 lb) in the spring and 90 kg (200 lb) in the autumn.
[36] The reindeer from Svalbard are also relatively short-legged and may have a shoulder height of as little as 80 cm (31 in),
[36] thereby following
Allen's rule.
Svalbard reindeer (R. t. platyrhynchus)
The
Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus subspecies, in Norway referred to as the Svalbard reindeer, seems to have evolved from large European reindeer.
[4]
The Svalbard reindeer is special in several ways. Svalbard reindeer has
peculiarities in its metabolism. The skeleton shows a remarkable
relative shortening of the legs, thus parallelling many extinct insular
deer species.
[98]
Finland
The Finnish forest reindeer (
R. tarandus fennicus), is 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.
[citation needed]
By 2007 reindeer experts were concerned about the collapse of the wild
Finnish forest reindeer (Rangifer tarandus fennicus) in the eastern
province of Kainuu.
[99]
During the peak year of 2001, the Finnish forest reindeer population in
Kainuu was established at 1,700. In a March 2007 helicopter count, only
960 individuals were detected.
Iceland
East
Iceland has a small herd of about 2500–3000 animals.
[100] Iceland (increasing or are stable at high numbers 2013) Iceland: Reindeer were introduced to Iceland (17) in the late 1700s
[101] cited in.
[54]
The Icelandic reindeer population in July 2013 was estimated at
approximately 6000. With a hunting quota of 1,229 animals, the winter
2013–2014 population is expected to be around 4800 reindeer
[54]
British overseas territory experiment
Southernmost reindeer:
South Georgian reindeer with velvet-covered antlers
A few reindeer from Norway were introduced to the South Atlantic island of
South Georgia in the beginning of the 20th century. The
South Georgian reindeer total some 2,600 animals in two distinct herds separated by
glaciers.
Although the flag and the coat of arms of the territory contain an
image of a reindeer, a decision was taken in 2011 to completely
eradicate the animals from the island because of the environmental
damage they cause.
[102][103]
French overseas territory experiment
Around 4000 reindeer have been introduced into the French sub-Antarctic archipelago of
Kerguelen Islands.
Conservation status
While overall widespread and numerous, some
subspecies are rare and at least one has already gone
extinct.
[4][5] As of 2015, the
IUCN has classified the reindeer as
Vulnerable due to an observed population decline of 40% over the last ~25 years.
[2]
Reindeer and humans
Reindeer pulling a sled in Russia
The reindeer has 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 Ages.
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 sale of
fur
and meat 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.
[citation needed]
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 in supermarkets and
grocery stores. Reindeer meat is very tender and lean. It can be prepared fresh, but also dried,
salted, hot- and cold-
smoked. In addition to meat, almost all internal organs of reindeer can be eaten, some being traditional dishes.
[104] Furthermore,
Lapin Poron liha, fresh reindeer meat completely produced and packed in
Finnish Lapland, is protected in Europe with
PDO classification.
[105][106]
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.
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."
[7]
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. Many
Gwich'in people, who depend on the
Porcupine caribou,
still follow traditional caribou management practices that include a
prohibition against selling caribou meat and limits on the number of
caribou to be taken per hunting trip.
[107]
The blood of the caribou was supposedly mixed with alcohol as drink
by hunters and loggers in colonial Quebec to counter the cold. This
drink is now enjoyed without the blood as a wine and whiskey drink known
as
Caribou.
[108][109]
Reindeer husbandry
Milking reindeer in the 19th century
The reindeer is the only domesticated deer in the world and was the
last animal to be domesticated, though it may be more accurate to
consider reindeer as semi-domesticated. Caribou in northern Fennoscandia
(northern
Norway,
Sweden and
Finland) as well in
Kola Peninsula in Russia, are all
[dubious – discuss] semi-wild domestic reindeer (
Rangifer tarandus domesticus), ear-marked by their owners and living in large fenced areas.
There are only two genetically pure populations of wild caribous in Northern Europe: wild mountain reindeer (
Rangifer tarandus ssp. tarandus) live in central Norway, with a population in 2007 of between 6,000 and 8,400 animals;
[110] and wild forest reindeer (
Rangifer tarandus ssp. fennicus), in central and eastern Finland and in Russian
Karelia, with a population of about 4,350, plus 1,500 in
Arkhangelsk and 2,500 in
Komi.
[111]
DNA analysis indicates that reindeer were independently domesticated in
Fennoscandia and Western
Russia (and possibly Eastern Russia).
[112] 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, and 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 were not bred in
captivity, though they were tamed for milking as well as for use as
draught animals or
beasts of burden.
[citation needed] Domesticated reindeer are shorter-legged and heavier than their wild counterparts.
[citation needed]
The use of reindeer for transportation is common among the nomadic
peoples of northern Russia (but not in Scandinavia). Although a sled
drawn by 20 reindeer will cover no more than 20–25 km a day (compared to
7–10 km on foot, 70–80 km by a dog sled loaded with cargo, and
150–180 km by a dog sled without cargo), it has the advantage that the
reindeer will discover their own food, while a pack of 5–7 sled dogs
requires 10–14 kg of fresh fish a day.
[113]
The use of reindeer as semi-domesticated livestock in Alaska was introduced in the late 19th century by the
U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, with assistance from
Sheldon Jackson, as a means of providing a livelihood for
Native peoples there.
[114] Reindeer were imported first from Siberia, and later also from Norway. A regular mail run in
Wales, Alaska, used a sleigh drawn by reindeer.
[115] In Alaska, reindeer herders use
satellite telemetry to track their herds, using online maps and databases to chart the herd's progress.
[citation needed]
Domesticated reindeer are mostly found in northern
Fennoscandia and Russia, with a herd of approximately 150–170 reindeer living around the
Cairngorms region in
Scotland. The last remaining wild tundra reindeer in Europe are found in portions of southern Norway.
[96]
The International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry (ICR), a circumpolar
organization, was established in 2005 by the Norwegian government. ICR
represents over 20 indigenous reindeer peoples and about 100,000
reindeer herders in 9 different national states.
[116]
In Finland, there are about 6,000 reindeer herders, most of whom keep
small herds of less than 50 reindeer to raise additional income. With
185,000 reindeer (2001), the industry produces 2,000 tons of reindeer
meat and generates 35 million euros annually. 70% of the meat is sold to
slaughterhouses. Reindeer herders are eligible for national and EU
agricultural subsidies, which constituted 15% of their income. Reindeer
herding is of central importance for the local economies of small
communities in sparsely populated rural Lapland.
[117]
Currently, many reindeer herders are heavily dependent on
diesel fuel to provide for
electric generators and
snowmobile transportation, although solar
photovoltaic systems can be used to reduce diesel dependency.
[118]
In history
Both
Aristotle and
Theophrastus have short accounts – probably based on the same source – of an ox-sized deer species, named
tarandos, living in the land of the
Bodines in
Scythia,
which was able to change the colour of its fur to obtain camouflage.
The latter is probably a misunderstanding of the seasonal change in
reindeer fur colour. The descriptions have been interpreted as being of
reindeer living in the southern
Ural Mountains in c. 350 BC
[9]
A deer-like animal described by
Julius Caesar in his
Commentarii de Bello Gallico (chapter 6.26) from the
Hercynian Forest in the year 53 BC is most certainly to be interpreted as reindeer:
[9][119]
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.
According to
Olaus Magnus's
Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus – printed in
Rome in 1555 –
Gustav I of Sweden sent 10 reindeer to
Albert I, Duke of Prussia, in the year 1533. It may be these animals that
Conrad Gessner had seen or heard of.
During
World War II, the
Soviet Army used reindeer as
pack animals to transport food, ammunition and post from
Murmansk to the
Karelian front
and bring wounded soldiers, pilots and equipment back to the base.
About 6,000 reindeer and more than 1,000 reindeer herders were part of
the operation. Most herders were
Nenets, who were mobilized from the
Nenets Autonomous Okrug, but reindeer herders from Murmansk,
Arkhangelsk and
Komi also participated.
[120][121]
Santa Claus' reindeer
Two Scottish reindeer relax after pulling Santa's sleigh at the switching on of Christmas lights
Around the world, public interest in reindeer peaks in the Christmas period.
[122] According to
folklore,
Santa Claus's 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.
[123]
Dunder was later changed to Donder and—in other works—Donner (in
German, "thunder"), and Blixem was later changed to Bliksem, then
Blitzen (
blitz
being 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 by Robert L. May in 1939 as "
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".
[124]
Heraldry and symbols
Several Norwegian municipalities have one or more reindeer depicted in their coats-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.
[125]
The Canadian 25-cent coin, or "
quarter" features a depiction of a caribou on one face. The caribou is the official provincial animal of
Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and appears on the
coat of arms of Nunavut. 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 and there is a replica in
Bowring Park, in St. John's, Newfoundland's capital city.
[citation needed]
Two municipalities in Finland have reindeer motifs in their coats-of-arms:
Kuusamo[126] has a running reindeer and
Inari[127] a fish with reindeer antlers.
See also