Geographic Range
Caribou have a nearly circumpolar distribution. The woodland subspecies
of caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) can be found as far south
as 46° north latitude, while other subspecies (Peary caribou
[R. t. pearyi] and Svalbard reindeer [R. t. platyrhynchus]) can
be found as far north as 80° north latitude. Once found as far
south as Germany, Great Britain, Poland, and Maine (USA), over-hunting
and habitat destruction have diminished the historic range of caribou.
Biogeographic Regions nearctic
native ; palearctic native
Other Geographic Terms holarctic
Habitat
Caribou inhabit arctic tundra and subarctic (boreal) forest regions.
Habitat Regions temperate
; polar ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes tundra ; taiga
; forest
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Driving Caribou in
the driving snow
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Physical Description
The various subspecies of caribou display a wide range of size.
Generally speaking, the subspecies inhabiting the more southerly
latitudes are larger than their northern cousins. Caribou can have
shoulder heights of up to 120 cm and total length ranges from 150
to 230 cm. They have short tails. There is marked sexual dimorphism,
with males of some subspecies being twice as large as females. The
coat of the caribou is an excellent, lightweight insulation against
the extreme cold temperatures they face. The hairs are hollow and
taper sharply which helps trap heat close to the body and also makes
them more buoyant. Color varies by subspecies, region, sex, and
season from the very dark browns of woodland caribou bulls in summer
to nearly white in Greenland (R. t. groenlandicus) and high Arctic
caribou. White areas are often present on the belly, neck, and above
the hooves. The hooves are large and concave, which support them
in snow and soft tundra, conditions that they often face. The broad
hooves are also useful when swimming. Caribou make an audible clicking
noise while walking, which is produced from tendons rubbing across
a bone in the foot. Rangifer tarandus is the only species of deer
in which both sexes have antlers. Mature bulls can carry enormous
and complex antlers, whereas cows and young animals generally have
smaller and simpler ones. Mature bulls usually shed their antlers
shortly after the rut whereas cows can keep theirs until spring.
Other Physical Features endothermic ;
homoiothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism male
larger ; ornamentation
Range mass
55 to 318 kg
121.15 to 700.44 lb |
Range length
150 to 230 cm
59.06 to 90.55 in |
Average basal metabolic rate
119.66 W
AnAge |
Reproduction
Males compete for access to females during the fall rut, which occurs
in October and early November. During this time males may engage
in battles that leave them injured and exhausted. Dominant males
restrict access to small groups of 5 to 15 females. Males stop feeding
during this time and lose much of their body reserves.
Mating System polygynous
In late August and September, prime bulls shed the velvet that
surrounds their antlers. Sparring begins shortly there after, with
the rut typically occurring in October. Females can be sexually
mature as early as 16 months of age but more commonly at 28 months.
With good nutrition females give birth to calves each year, but
may skip years in poor ranges. A single calf, weighing 3 to 12 kg,
is born approximately 228 days after impregnation, in May or June.
Twinning has been reported, but is very rare. The suckling period
rarely last past the first week of July and grazing commences shortly
after birth. Calves rely mainly on foraging for nutrition after
45 days old.
Key Reproductive Features iteroparous
; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes
separate) ; sexual ; viviparous
Breeding interval
Caribou breed once yearly. |
Breeding season
Breeding typically occurs in October. |
Range number of offspring
2 (high) |
Average number of offspring
1 |
Average number of offspring
1
AnAge |
Average gestation period
7.6 months |
Average gestation period
228 days
AnAge |
Average weaning age
1.5 months |
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
16 (low) months |
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
28 months |
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
Sex: male
680 days
AnAge |
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Newborn calves are precocial, being able to suckle minutes after
birth, follow their mother after an hour and are capable of outrunning
a human at one day of age. Calves nurse exclusively for their first
month, after which they begin to graze. They will continue to nurse
occasionally through early fall, when they become independent.
Parental Investment no parental
involvement ; precocial ; pre-fertilization (protecting female)
; pre-hatching/birth (provisioning female protecting female) ;
pre-weaning/fledging (provisioning female protecting female)
Lifespan/Longevity
Females generally have longer life spans than males, some over 15
years. Bulls are highly susceptible to predation after the rut,
which can leave them injured and/or exhausted. Bulls typically live
less than 10 years in the wild. Average life expectancy is 4.5 years.
Behavior
Caribou are known to travel distances greater than any other terrestrial
mammal. The can traverse more than 5,000 kilometers in a year, with
extensive migrations in spring and fall. They can reach speeds of
80 km/hr. Spring migration leads the caribou off the winter range
back to calving grounds. Use of traditional calving grounds is the
basis by which caribou herds are defined. Caribou are gregarious
and the largest groups, which can number in the tens of thousands,
are found during the summer months. This behavior is thought to
bring about some measure of relief from harassing mosquitoes, warble
flies, and nose bot flies. As cooler weather arrives, groups become
smaller but caribou may aggregate again during the rut and fall
migration. Bulls spar with competitors to keep them from breeding
with females in their area. Most encounters are brief, but serious
battles do occur which can result in injury or death. Most caribou
winter in forested areas, where snow conditions are more favorable.
Caribou are able to locate forage under snow, apparently by their
ability to smell it. To reach the forage they use their front paws
to dig craters. Dominant caribou frequently usurp craters dug by
subordinate animals.
Key Behaviors terricolous ; diurnal ;
motile ; migratory ; social
Communication and Perception
Caribou communicate among themselves through vocal, visual, chemical,
and tactile cues. They have a keen sense of smell, which allows
them to find food buried deep under snow.
Communication Channels visual ;
tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Perception Channels visual
; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Food Habits
Caribou are primarily grazing herbivores. Their diet is most variable
during the summer, when they consume the leaves of willows and birches,
mushrooms, cotton grass, sedges and numerous other ground dwelling
species of vegetation. Lichens are an important component of the
diet, especially in winter, but are not eaten exclusively.
Primary Diet herbivore (folivore)
Plant Foods leaves ; roots
and tubers ; wood, bark, or stems ; bryophytes ; lichens
Other Foods fungus
Predation
Calves are highly vulnerable to predation by bears, wolves, and
other predators during their first week of life. Healthy adult caribou
are less susceptible to predation until old age and illness weakens
them. By traveling in herds, caribou increase the number of individuals
that can watch for predators.
Known Predators
- grizzly bears (Ursus arctos)
- gray wolves (Canis lupus)
- American black bears (Ursus americanus)
Ecosystem Roles
Through their foraging activities, caribou have a dramatic impact
on communities of vegetation throughout their range. They are also
important prey species for large predators, such as bears and wolves,
especially during the calving season.
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Caribou have been used extensively for their meat, fur and antlers.
Reindeer, the domesticated subspecies of caribou, have been herded
throughout their range for thousands of years.
Positive Impacts food ; body parts
are source of valuable material
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
There are no negative impacts of caribou.
Conservation Status
Although Alaska, with its more than 30 herds, has nearly double
the number of caribou (1,000,000) than people, caribou in the contiguous
US are considered endangered. Caribou in Alaska are of the barren-ground
subspecies, whereas extant (WA, ID) and extinct (ME) herds are of
the woodland subspecies. The Selkirk Herd, inhabiting WA, ID, and
southern British Columbia numbers only around 30 members. They are
listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act in these regions.
Loss of habitat, overhunting, and other factors has contributed
to the precarious position the woodland caribou now exists in the
US. Worldwide, the caribou population is estimated to be around
5 million. The largest herds now occur in Alaska, Canada, and Russia.
Humans have heavily hunted this species. They have been extinct
in most parts of Europe since at least the 1600s. Exploration for
oil and minerals in Canada may threaten woodland caribou habitat.
High Arctic caribou populations are also thought to be vulnerable.
Despite their status in the wild, domestic herds of reindeer flourish
in the Old World, in Canada, in Alaska, and in the lower 48 states
including Michigan.
Other Comments
Caribou, and their domestic counterparts - reindeer, have been very
important in the cultures of native peoples througout the arctic.
Several Siberian, Scandinavian, and American native cultures are
built around herding caribou.
Contributors
Tanya Dewey (editor), Animal Diversity Web.
Kyle C. Joly (author), Alaska Science Center, U.S. Geological
Survey.
Nancy Shefferly (author), Animal Diversity Web.
References
Dalrymple, B.W. 1978. North american big-game animals. Outdoor
Life Books, New York.
Nowak, R.M. and J.L. Paradiso. 1983. Walker's Mammals of the
World, Fourth Edition. John Hopkins University Press. Baltimore
and London.
Burt, W., R. Grossenheider. 1980. Peterson Field Guides: Mammals,
3rd edition. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Geist, V. 1998. Deer of the world: their evolution, behavior,
and ecology. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.
Kelsall, J. 1968. The migratory barren-ground caribou of Canada.
Ottawa: Queen's Printer.
Reindeer Owners and Breeders Association, "Deer, Goats,
Sheep, Etc: Reindeer" (On-line). Accessed 18 May 2000 at
http://www.blarg.net/~critter/subindex/deer.html.
Valkenburg, P. 1999. "Caribou" (On-line). Alaska Department
of Fish & Game's Notebook Series. Accessed September 19, 2003
at http://www.state.ak.us/adfg/notebook/biggame/caribou.htm.
Glossary
Nearctic
living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part
of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic
islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands
of central Mexico.
Palearctic
living in the northern part of the Old World. In otherwords, Europe
and Asia and northern Africa.
acoustic
uses sound to communicate
bilateral symmetry
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one
plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry
have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior
ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
chemical
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
diurnal
active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
endothermic
animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body
temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is
a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in
a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not
distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.
folivore
an animal that mainly eats leaves.
food
A substance that provides both nutrients and energy to a living
thing.
forest
forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes
can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.
herbivore
An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.
holarctic
a distribution that more or less circles the Arctic, so occurring
in both the Nearctic and Palearctic biogeographic regions.
Found in northern North America and northern Europe or Asia.
iteroparous
offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches,
etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable
to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive
over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).
migratory
makes seasonal movements between breeding and wintering grounds
motile
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
native range
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in
which it is endemic.
polar
the regions of the earth that surround the north and south poles,
from the north pole to 60 degrees north and from the south pole
to 60 degrees south.
polygynous
having more than one female as a mate at one time
seasonal breeding
breeding is confined to a particular season
sexual
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution
of two individuals, a male and a female
sexual ornamentation
one of the sexes (usually males) has special physical structures
used in courting the other sex or fighting the same sex. For example:
antlers, elongated tails, special spurs.
social
associates with others of its species; forms social groups.
tactile
uses touch to communicate
taiga
Coniferous or boreal forest, located in a band across northern
North America, Europe, and Asia. This terrestrial biome also occurs
at high elevations. Long, cold winters and short, wet summers.
Few species of trees are present; these are primarily conifers
that grow in dense stands with little undergrowth. Some deciduous
trees also may be present.
temperate
that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees
North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and
between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic
of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).
terrestrial
Living on the ground.
tundra
A terrestrial biome with low, shrubby or mat-like vegetation found
at extremely high latitudes or elevations, near the limit of plant
growth. Soils usually subject to permafrost. Plant diversity is
typically low and the growing season is short.
visual
uses sight to communicate
viviparous
reproduction in which fertilization and development take place
within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment
from the female.
young precocial
young are relatively well-developed when born
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