What is the difference between reindeer and caribou? Some scientists believe that they are probably the same species even though they look a bit different. Caribou are larger, while reindeer are smaller and were domesticated in Eurasia about two thousand years ago. They both tend to be herded animals. Both reindeer and caribou are cloven-hoofed, cud-chewing animals known as ungulates. Their hooves have two large and front concave toes which helps to support the animal in snow, helps it to dig for food in the winter, and to swim. Both reindeer and caribou have special hair which traps air to help keep them warm. This trapped air also helps them to be more buoyant in the cold waters of the Arctic Ocean. They are excellent swimmers! Unlike other members of the deer family, both genders of caribou and reindeer have antlers that are shed yearly.
Get To Know Your Zoo Animals:
We currently have female caribou, and a bunch of reindeer. They all look very similar so one of the simplest ways to tell them apart is by looking at their ear tags (which are essentially name tags that they wear on their ears, and the zoo keepers use to identify the animals in the herd). Finding those ear tags from a distance can be very hard, so our reindeer and caribou don’t really have nicknames.
http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/html/caribou_reindeer.html
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/caribou/
http://www.hww.ca/assets/pdfs/factsheets/caribou-en.pdf