Caribou
Rangifer tarandus

Caribou thrive in the far north. How do they deal with the cold, ice, and deep snow? Their thick winter coat has long guard hairs and dense, curly fur underneath. Their feet grow special insulation and form hard surfaces for warmth and traction on ice and snow. In summer, their heavy coat is replaced by lighter fur.

What They Eat
Lichens make up the bulk of the caribou’s winter diet. Other foods include fungi, mosses, herbs, sedges, grasses, shrubs, and young trees.

Where They Live
Woodland caribou inhabit tundra and boreal forests in Canada, the northern United States, Europe, and Asia.

What They Do
Some caribou roam large areas of open tundra. These herds migrate seasonally to find food. Other caribou live in small family groups and stay close to home in far northern woodlands. They use their massive antlers to protect themselves from predators. Males also use their antlers to compete for females.

How They’re Doing
Loss and fragmentation of northern forests and disruption of tundra by development, roads, logging, fossil fuel exploration, and other disturbances have made it increasingly difficult for woodland caribou to find the habitat they need to thrive. Hunting, poaching, and increased wolf predation also have caused a decline in these animals.

Caribou

• Caribou are good swimmers.
• These animals have a tendon that clicks when they walk. They use the sound to keep track of each other.
• Caribou are the only member of the deer family in which both male and females have antlers.
• Woodland caribou were once found in Minnesota, but they disappeared due to hunting, habitat loss, and disease carried by white-tailed deer as they extended their range.
• Caribou predators include wolves and bears.
• In Europe and the Russian Far East caribou are kept in herds and used for meat, fur, and milk. Tame caribou pull sleighs and carry loads.

Conservation Notes

Caribou were once found throughout northern Minnesota, but populations dropped during the 1800s due to logging, hunting, and the northward expansion of white-tailed deer, which carry a parasitic worm that kills moose and caribou. Logging, coal mining, oil and gas exploration, habitat destruction and fragmentation, wolf predation, hunting, and poaching have all contributed to the decline of caribou in recent years.

Caribou

Range and Habitat
Caribou live in cold places—wide open tundra as well as northern forests around the world.

Description
Medium-sized members of the cervid (deer) family, caribou count moose and white-tailed deer among their relatives. Males weigh 220–700 pounds, while females weigh 130–370 pounds. Their coat ranges from brown to gray, with white hairs found on the mane, eye ring, rump patch, underside of tail, inside of ears, feet, nose, and an area of the flanks. The summer coat is short and soft. The winter coat is much thicker and longer, with hollow guard hairs and dense, curly underfur.

Habits and Adaptations
Caribou are gregarious. Those that frequent forests tend to gather in small family bands and migrate only short distances. Tundra caribou gather in herds of up to 500,000 and travel thousands of miles each year. In preparation for winter caribou’s foot pads shrink and harden while the hoof edges and hair get longer, forming a structure that helps them travel across hard, snow-packed ground. Caribou are strong swimmers and adept climbers. They communicate with each other through sound, scent, and sight.

Life Cycle
Caribou mate in October and November. Gestation is about 230 days. Fawns are brown and unspotted, and weigh about 10–15 pounds at birth. They grow quickly the first five months. Both males and females develop small antlers called spikes at about 3 months. Both males and females mature at 3–4 years of age. They live 12–15 years.