The difference between reindeer and caribou
Reindeer tend to feature prominently in the media at this time of year -- particularly the very small subspecies that flies through the air while pulling a sled carrying Santa Claus and a large number of presents.
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(photo: Don Russell)
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About that special subspecies, more later.
The more common reindeer roam the forest and tundra of Scandinavia, Russia, and as far east as eastern Siberia and northern China, throughout the subarctic regions of Europe and Asia. Caribou occupy the same habitats in subarctic North America, look much the same, and behave much the same.
So what is the difference between reindeer and caribou?
Essentially no difference, says Don Russell, manager of the Canadian Wildlife Service in the Yukon.
"The reindeer is just an Old World caribou," he says. "They are the same species, Rangifer tarandus."
In fact there is often more variation in appearance among different types of caribou than there is between certain types of reindeer and caribou, he adds.
Russell says there are three general groupings of caribou and three matching groupings of reindeer. Marine reindeer are very similar to Peary caribou and, like them, live on Arctic islands or near the Arctic coast. Tundra reindeer are much like barrenground caribou, such as the Porcupine Caribou Herd of the northern Yukon. Forest reindeer are comparable to woodland caribou, which inhabit the northern regions of the boreal forest.
We tend to think of reindeer as domestic animals, but that's not at all true, says Russell. The second-largest herd of wild Rangifer tarandus (reindeer or caribou) in the world is the Taimyr herd, which lives on the Taimyr Peninsula in central Siberia and numbers about half a million animals.
However, some reindeer have been domesticated. In Scandinavia and Russia, they have been used for centuries as sources of meat, milk and hides, and as draught animals.
"It's probably one of the oldest domesticated animals in the world," says Russell.
The caribou of North America have never been domesticated, but not because they are genetically different from domestic reindeer, he says. The aboriginal peoples of North America simply never bothered to domesticate caribou, probably because they felt no need. Instead, they adapted their lifestyle to fit the seasonal wanderings of the wild caribou herds.
Scientists used to think that Rangifer tarandus evolved in Europe and Asia, and moved into North America during the time of the Beringian land bridge. However, Rangifer bones dating back 1.5 million years, long before Beringia, have been found in the Fort Selkirk area of the Yukon.
Russell says it now seems likely that Rangifer tarandus evolved in North America, moved to Europe and Asia, and then moved back into North America in the Beringian era.
Humans have also contributed to the movement of reindeer around the world. Old World domesticated reindeer were brought to the Nome area in Alaska around the turn of the century. Descendants of that herd populate game farms in many locations in Canada.
Norwegian reindeer were introduced to the subantarctic island of South Georgia about 70 years ago. They adapted well to the southern hemisphere, Russell says, and even flipped their breeding cycle to accommodate the reversed seasons.
Meanwhile, about those flying reindeer. Science has remarkably little to say about them, perhaps because of the shortage of confirmed sightings. Nevertheless, given their unusual reported characteristics (including, in one case, a glowing red nose), they are clearly deserving of more research.
For more information about non-flying caribou and reindeer, contact Environment Canada in Whitehorse.
