Reindeer

Reindeer

• Rangifer tarandus

• Also known as the caribou

• Females weight between 130 and 370 lbs and measures 64–81 inches long.

• Males weight 220–700 lb and measures 71–84 inches

Distribution

Antlers

• Both sexes grow antlers, which for old males fall off in December, for young males in the early spring, and for females in the summer.

• The bull reindeer's antlers are the second largest of any deer, and can range up to 39 inches in width and 53 inches in length.

They mainly eat lichens in winter, especially reindeer moss and grass in the summer

The reindeer travels the furthest of any terrestrial mammal, walking up to 3,000 miles a year

Mating occurs from late September to early November and calves are born in May and June

• Santa Claus's reindeer were first named in the 1823 poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas", where they are called Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen

• Rudolph was added by Robert L. May in 1939 as "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"