“There are more caribou than people in Alaska.”
National Geographic Kids, 5,000 Awesome Facts 2015
Definition of a caribou from the Cambridge dictionary says it is “a large deer with long horns with branches that live in North America”, and/or a “Large North America Reindeer”.
However Caribou are also considered reindeer, but there is a difference. Caribou are a North American animal where reindeer is in Europe and Asia. Caribou are wild whereas reindeer have been put to work pulling carts and sleighs.
There are 32 recognized herds, some of them up to 300,000. The largest Arctic herd was 490,000 in 2003, but decreased to 201,000 in 2016. They are in constant migration, sometimes traveling 800 miles to get to their grazing grounds.
According to http://www.vox.com/science-health, their numbers have declined by 56% since the mid 1990’s. They are listed as vulnerable on the extinction list. The reason for this is climate change, logging, and predators. The warmer climate is also making the caribou more susceptible to disease and parasites.
They have large, concave hoofs that help them to stand on the snow and the tundra. The hoofs are used as shovels to find food, and paddles when they go swimming. They have buoyant hair like bubble wrap that allows them to float. They’ve been known to swim 1.5 miles from island to island.
They are the only deer species that both sexes grow antlers. The adults can weigh about 350-400 lbs.
Males are called bulls whereas females are called cows.
Alaskans harvest around 22,000 caribou a year. They have been a vital part in resources for many Alaskans. Their fur, meat and horns are used to produce goods and food. They are also very important to the Eco-system because their “power to reshape vegetation by grazing.”
Their population is at 750,000 and people at 731,545 according to the 2019 Alaska census.
CHARLEY WAFFLE 