• Let us know the amazing facts of Barren-ground caribou
• COMMON NAME : Deer
• SCIENTIFIC NAME: Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus
• DIET: Herbivore
• AVERAGE LIFE SPAN: 12–15 years
• Height :112 cm (male), 104 cm (female)
• weight: 130 kg–150 kg (male), 90 kg (female)
• speed : 50 mph or 80 km/h
• Dirty brown fur fading to tan to off-white around the neck.
• Face darker than rest of the body with a white muzzle
• Females also have antlers that are much smaller and not as elaborate.
• Slightly smaller than Woodland Caribou.
• Caribou breed in the fall, with the peak of the “rut” occurring in late September and early October.
• Cow caribou generally breed first when they are 28 months old, however, some may breed as young as 16 months.
• Cows give birth to one calf during late May to early June. After calving, caribou collect in large “postcalving aggregations” to avoid predators and escape mosquitos and warble flies.
• Large caribou herds must keep moving to find adequate food and may migrate hundreds of miles between summer and winter ranges. Small herds may not migrate at all.
• The caribou is the animal on the Canadian 25-cent coin.
• Their foraging and droppings add nutrients to the soil and water; they are prey for many carnivores; and they have been an important part of Inuit culture and livelihoods for millennia.
• Caribou have scent glands on the base of their ankles that emit an odour to alert the rest to the herd to impending danger.
• Barren-ground caribou are a migratory species, crossing the Arctic tundra every year to return to their age-old calving grounds where they give birth to their young.
• Even small disturbances to their calving grounds can frighten caribou away, trigger the loss of their pregnancy or cause them to abandon their calves.
• Industrial development is popping up more and more frequently throughout the caribou range. Even small disturbances to their calving grounds can frighten caribou away, trigger the loss of their pregnancy or cause them to abandon their calves.
