Raindeer Facts

                               Reindeer Facts

•  In Europe's Reindeer Age 16,000 years ago, reindeer were abundant. Primitive humans relied heavily on them for their skins to keep them warm, meat to sustain them, and bones to create tools.

     

•  Reindeer are the only type of deer in which both male and female reindeer have antlers. Female reindeer retain their antlers until they give birth to their young in the spring. Keeping their antlers throughout the winter ensures they are able to compete for food while pregnant. Male reindeer shed their antlers each winter

 

•       Reindeer are the only mammals that grow new sets of antlers annually

      

•  Reindeer eat certain types of lichen that grow in sub-arctic climates. These plant materials help to keep their blood warm so that they can survive the icy winters.

  

• The largest reindeer species, the Finnish forest reindeer, measures approximately 240 centimeters in length from snout to tail. Finnish forest reindeer have longer legs than other reindeer species. They have adapted to forest life by evolving with wide hooves, which help them dig through the snow for lichen, and antler pairs that grow closer together than those of other reindeer sub-species. These differences help Finnish forest reindeer move through woodlands unobstructed.