Reindeer

Meet the Reindeer!

The reindeer was historically distributed in the northern tundras and taigas of North America, Europe, Asia and Greenland. Today, the few reindeer left in the wild are mostly domestic animals, essential to the daily lives of the Lapps and other Nordic peoples (such as the Siberian Nenets).

The Reindeer is the only species of the cervid family in which the females have antlers. Its front hooves are fully adapted to the snow, so that it can walk on snowy ground and even forage for food.

What are its habits?

They reproduce in spring, after a gestation period of more than 200 days. Calves are able to follow their mothers as soon as they are born.

They live in herds, and are nomadic and migratory, like the people they live with (they are able to travel thousands of kilometers every year on the routes that take them from north to south).

In summer they prefer the open lands of the tundra, where they feed on grasses and plants, while in winter they move towards closed forests to keep themselves protected.

Conservation

Extinct

Extinct in the wild

Critically endangered

Endangered

Vulnerable

Near threatened

Least concern

Insufficient data

Not evaluated