One of the most commonly asked questions, especially among children, is “what do reindeer eat?” this is an excellent question since reindeer live in very cold environments where food can often be difficult to find.
People often associate reindeer with Christmas, but unlike Santa and his elves, reindeer are real. Although they do not fly, everything associated with reindeer is true, from their antlers to their bushy tails and everything in between. Let’s explore more.
Appearance
Reindeer are tall and slender animals, with a thick fur coat that varies from creamy white to chocolate brown. They have pale grey or white markings around their nose, chin, chest and stomach. Both males and females have antlers which are covered in a thin layer of fur.
Reindeer antlers
Antlers can be a simple, single protrusion or a large spider-web of up to 12 branches. Male reindeer typically have larger antlers than females. While the female reindeer keep their antlers through Winter, males shed their antlers after the rutting season in late October. Females shed their antlers in late Spring or early Summer, after they give birth.
Shedding occurs due to a fall in testosterone which weakens the tissue that forms the antlers. The velvet usually sheds first, then the antlers themselves detach from the forehead, not unlike the way humans lose teeth as children.
Antler regrowth is called regeneration and the rate at which antlers regrow depends on the individual reindeer’s genetics. Regrowth generally lasts 2-4 months. When testosterone levels peak during summer, the growth of their antlers slows down.
Reindeer Quick Facts
Reindeer – named caribou in North America – are a species of deer native to cold, snowy regions with dense forests. They belong to the same family as moose and elk.
COMMON NAME: Reindeer or Caribou
LATIN NAME: Rangifer tarandus
HABITAT: Tundra and Boreal/Taiga forests, often snowy
SIZE: up to 1.2m/4ft and 250kg/550lbs
LIFESPAN: 15 years (20 years in captivity)
Reindeer became synonymous with Christmas in the 19th century after a children’s poem by an unknown author was published in New York. The next printed reference to reindeer and Santa Claus came in 1823 with the well-known poem ‘A Visit From St Nicholas’, which is commonly referred to as ‘The Night Before Christmas’.
What Do Reindeer Eat?
On Christmas Eve many families leave out a tray of carrots for Santa’s reindeer, but is that what reindeer eat? It is widely known that carrots do not grow in the forest. What they eat will depend on the season.
Reindeer Diet in Spring and Summer
Reindeer are herbivores and will eat a wide variety of vegetation, which changes with each season. In spring and summer, reindeer forage for:
- Leaves from willow and birch trees
- Grasses
- Fungi/mushrooms
What Reindeer eat in Winter
As the weather cools through Fall and Winter, their diet changes. They search for hardier vegetation to eat during cold weather, including:
- Mosses
- Lichen (sometimes called Reindeer moss)
Adults use their hooves to dig small hollows in the snow to reach the mosses buried below. Youngsters follow behind their mother hoofprints to find their food. Reindeer moss is an essential part of their winter diet as it is high in carbohydrates, which helps them maintain their body weight.
Also Read: Can Grizzly Bears Climb Trees?
Are Reindeer Social Animals?
Most deer species are herding animals and this includes reindeer. There are two subspecies of reindeer considered to exist. Eurasian reindeer, generally referred to as reindeer live in Greenland, Scandinavia and Russia. North American reindeer are called caribou and they are found in Alaska and Canada, where the environment is considered Arctic or tundra.
All populations of reindeer are social herders, with both males and females keeping their antlers year-round. Reindeer typically live in small herds of up to 15 individuals, however, in tundra environments, males are often seen with hundreds or even thousands of females.
The breeding season begins with a period called a rut. During this time, male reindeer will visually size up their opponents based on the size of their antlers. This helps to prevent most physical altercations. Males will call to each other using a variety of deep bellows to determine dominance and which males will get the chance to mate.
In a small number of populations that live year-round in dense forest, males will defend their own small harem of females for the right to mate.
Regardless of their region, all reindeer females give birth to a single calf in May or June when the weather is warm and there is enough food for reindeer to eat. Twin births are rare and most are either stillborn or the weaker calf will die shortly after birth.
Reindeer migrate as a herd as the seasons change in order to find better sources of food. Predators such as bears and wolves will often follow reindeer migration. They catch the weaker members of the herd who fall behind.
Threats and Conservation
The biggest threat to reindeer are predators. They have three natural predators in the wild; wolves, bears and lynx. In Canada, reindeer may also be hunted by polar bears. Approximately 50% of all reindeer calves will be killed by predators before they reach 12 months old.
Reindeer are also at risk from other dangers, although they are not considered threatened. There are approximately 3 million domesticated reindeer across Europe as well as more than 1 million wild reindeer throughout Eurasia and 3.5 million in Alaska and Canada.
Traditional herding communities use reindeer for meat and milk. They also use their hides to create warm clothing and their antlers as tools. In some regions, domesticated reindeer are kept much like cows as sources of meat and milk. They also use reindeer to pull sleighs in heavy snow.
Aside from predators, wild populations of reindeer are at risk mostly by human activities. Legal and illegal poaching of reindeer for their meat and fur causes hundreds of thousands of reindeer to die each year.
Deforestation into rural areas reduces the available grazing areas for reindeer herds and other human activity affects how well they breed.
In certain regions of Russia, reindeer are considered vulnerable to extinction, but there are already conservation efforts in place between traditional villagers, environmental agencies and government departments.
These policies include:
- Tourism restrictions
- Establishment of reindeer conservation areas
- Tougher penalties for illegal poaching
Overall, worldwide reindeer populations are either stable or increasing, however, we still need to be mindful of expansion into isolated areas as this removes viable habitat and can cause drastic declines in birth rates.
Also Read: How Tall Is a Polar Bear Standing Up?