Although they are called by different names in North America, wild caribou and domestic reindeer are considered to be a single species throughout the world. Caribou are rather large members of the deer family. Their broad, concave hoofs spread to aid walking on soft ground and are good for digging in snow. Both sexes grow antlers that in males serve as sexual ornaments and weapons for fighting rivals during the breeding season.
Alaskan caribou are clove-brown with a white neck and rump.
Chukotkan reindeer, as a result of domestication, have varied pelt combinations of brown, grey, black and white in the same herd. Evolution and Range Caribou live in tundra and boreal forest regions of both Eurasia and North America, on Greenland and on large northern islands. Within Beringia, they occupy eastern Yakutia, the Anadyr highlands and much of western Alaska, but are absent on most of the Chukotka and Seward peninsulas, where they have been supplanted by reindeer. During the great Ice Age caribou were members of the remarkable array of large mammals inhabiting Beringia. In spring pregnant cows lead the migration to the calving grounds, where each will give birth to a single calf.