Cribou Animals

Mammal. Caribou and reindeer are the same species. They are the only deer whose males and females both have antlers. The antlers grow forward and the caribou use them in the winter to dig through snow for food. Some caribou migrate more than 4,828 kilometers (3,000 miles) per year. Their concave-shaped hooves are adapted for deep snow, holding the caribou up like snowshoes. In water, their hooves act as paddles. Caribou have been clocked running as fast as 80 kilometers (50 miles) per hour. A caribou sensing danger gives off a special scent that warns other caribou to keep their distance.There are seven subspecies of caribou, totaling approximately 5 million individuals. Two subspecies have already been driven to extinction. Today caribou can be found in parts of North America, Russia and Scandinavia. In the United States, two subspecies can be found. Rangifer tarandus granti or barren ground caribou, more well-known due to their long-distance migrations, total 950,000 and occur throughout Alaska and northern Canada.

There are two ecotypes within the Rangifer tarandus caribou, or woodland caribou, subspecies: mountain woodland caribou and northern woodland caribou. This distinction is based largely on habitat use and behavior Woodland caribou have been reduced to one tiny population in the U.S., in far northern Idaho and northeastern Washington. This population, known as the International Selkirk population, is extremely rare with only about 40 individuals left. These last caribou in the continental U.S. are a type of woodland caribou known as mountain caribou because they migrate to high alpine peaks in the winter. The worldwide population of mountain caribou has plummeted recently to fewer than 2000, in small, isolated populations at severe risk of elimination.Historically woodland caribou inhabited the forests of the Northern United States from Maine to Washington State, but have been reduced to one small herd in the Selkirk Mountains of northern Idaho, eastern Washington and southern British Columbia. This last U.S. herd is reduced to approximately 35 memberCaribou are well-known for their ability to use tree growing (arboreal) lichens as a major food source. As a result they are most often associated with mature coniferous forests that provide substantial quantities of tree lichens. that tend to stay mostly in the Canadian part of its range.