Reindeer

Rangifer tarandus

Easy (Polygynous)

The **Reindeer** or **Caribou** (*Rangifer tarandus*) is a large Holarctic ungulate featured in the Arctic Pack DLC for *Planet Zoo*.

## Zoopedia Description

### General

**Population in the Wild:** 1,500,000

The Reindeer (or Rangifer tarandus) is a species of ungulate that lives throughout the Arctic and Sub Arctic - specifically in Canada, The USA (Alaska), Russia, Norway, Finland and Greenland. A reindeer's appearance changes depending on their origin and the time of year, but generally they have a brown and white coat, and a face with a white underside and muzzle, often with darker coloration on the snout. They also have large antlers, multiple points of which are covered in brown velvet. The males are between 1.8 and 2.1m long, weighing between 159 and 182kg. Females are between 1.6 and 2.05m long , weighing 80 and 120kg.

Although reindeer are abundant with a widespread range, they are listed as vulnerable due to a 40% decrease in their population over the last 25 years. Certain subspecies are particularly vulnerable, such as the woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) which has lost much of its habitat through human land development, and the Peary caribou (Rangifer tarandus pearyi) which has suffered population crashes through starvation due to harsh winters in the Arctic areas in which they live. Separate populations of reindeer are being tracked and monitored in multiple areas to understand the threats that the population faces, and measures are also being introduced to make reindeer sport hunting sustainable.

### Social

The reindeer is a social herd species. In the wild, they live in breeding groups of related females, their young, and one unrelated dominant male; or in bachelor herds of young males who have not yet acquired a harem of females.

### Reproduction

Dominant male reindeer acquire and defend a territory, fighting other males for this territory, as well as for access to females. As groups of related females and their offspring come to their area to forage, the male will join their group, mating with receptive females. Between 7 and 8 months later, the female will give birth to a single calf, which is weaned at 3-months-old and sexually mature between 16 and 20 months, although will be unlikely to reproduce until they are older. Females remain with their mother's group and are likely to have their first calf at around 3-years-old, while males will be ousted from their family group at approximately 16 to 20 months, joining a bachelor herd. When a male becomes dominant in the bachelor herd (at around 5-years-old) he will leave to establish his own territory and acquire his own female herd.

## Animal Care

 FEEDING STATIONS
 FOOD ENRICHMENT
Grazing Ball Feeder · Large Barrel Feeder · Hanging Grazer Feeder · Melon Feeder
Grab Ball · Herb Scent Marker · Large Ball · Rubbing Pillar · Skittle · Large Snow Ball · Snowman Skittle Enrichment · Scots Pine/Tamarind Scratching Tree

## Trivia

### Zoopedia Fun Facts

* There are 12 living subspecies of reindeer and 2 extinct subspecies. Different subspecies live in different geographical areas and environments, and also look slightly different.
* The North American reindeer (caribou) migrates up to 5000km, the furthest of any land mammal
* Reindeer are the only species of deer where both males and females grow antlers (although in some reindeer subspecies, the females have lost their antlers).
* Reindeers shed their antlers every years so new ones can grow. Males shed their antlers at the end of the mating season and females shed their after they have given birth.
* The most mature and dominant reindeer stags have the largest antlers.

### Other Trivia

* The design of the Reindeer in-game is from the Svalbard Reindeer.
* The Reindeer is the first deer to be added into the game, despite the Red Deer being a base game animal.
* The Reindeer got a pale Colourmorph in update 1.12.1.