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Previous Issues > December 2007 > Wildville! > Reindeer
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 Wildville!
Reindeer
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Cervidae
Legend has it that Santa and his team of reindeer fly through the sky on Christmas Eve delivering presents to good boys and girls. Because the reindeer is associated with Christmas, it's a great month to learn more about them.
In North America, reindeer are called caribou. They are a species of deer found in the Arctic tundra and forests of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia and Russia. The
tundra is a very harsh place to live. Tundra are cold, treeless plains in Arctic regions, where the ground is frozen. Reindeer are usually brown, and whitish in the winter. They are known for their antlers. They are the only deer species in which both males and females have antlers. Males can grow antlers up to four and a half feet long! Male reindeer are also very large they can weigh 550 pounds or more.
Forest reindeer usually live in groups of 6 to 13. Reindeer gather together into huge herds for migration to the tundra in the spring. The migration can be as far as 3,000 miles. The herds can include up to half a million reindeer. During the summer, reindeer eat grass, leaves and mushrooms. In the winter, they eat reindeer moss, which they find by digging in the snow.
In some areas of the world, reindeer are used as pack animals to carry heavy loads. (But they don't fly, as Santa's reindeer are believed to!) Sometimes they are even used for riding. They also are used for milk. In some places, they are hunted for their meat, hide and antlers.
Sources: Reindeer, Encyclopaedia Brittanica.
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