Caribou and Reindeer

Caribou and Reindeer. A Key to Ancient and Modern Survival. , As nomadic hunter and gatherer people, the Athabascans relied on their ability to track and hunt herds of migrating caribou in order to survive Alaska's harsh climate. In the wild, caribou are migratory, traveling long distances each year from their winter foraging ranges to their spring calving grounds. Because caribou often followed the same migratory paths from year to year, hunters would anticipate the caribou's movements and set up snares and fences in order to slow the herd down and funnel them into areas where they could be more easily harvested. The were very skilled hunters and were quite resourceful once they had brought down their target; nothing was wasted and all parts of the animal had a unique use. Naturally, the meat was a main food source. The hides, which were extremely warm and lightweight, were used for shelter and clothing. Bones were used to fashion tools and weapons, and even the fluids and organs were useful. , It wasn't until the late 1800's when westerners noticed food shortages within the Alaska Native population on the Seward Peninsula that domesticated reindeer were brought from Siberia to Alaska. These reindeer herds were both a reliable food source and an economic means for the Alaska Natives. , Though the reindeer and caribou are similar, they are actually a different subspecies; Alaskan reindeer are classified as Rangifer tarandus tarandus, caribou as Rangifer tarandus granti. Thousands of years of domestication and selective breeding have resulted in distinct physical and behavioral differences between the two, much like the differences between a modern dog and a wolf. While the caribou's far ranging migrations lead to a long and lean profile, reindeer tend to be much more sedentary and have a broader shape with shorter legs and a flatter face. Caribou, when herded in the wild, will tend to scatter while reindeer will tend to cluster into a cohesive unit. Rangifer tarandus is the only species of deer in which both the males and females grow antlers. Reindeer typically drop their antlers each winter after the rut season, while pregnant females will generally retain theirs until after spring calving occurs. , The reindeer you see before you are from a local herd based in Fairbanks. They are fed a specialized pellet diet of barley, oats, alfalfa, beet pulp, soybean, vitamins and minerals. In addition, they have access to high quality brome hay, salt and mineral blocks, willows and fireweed. In the wild, caribou enjoy willow and fireweed during the summer months, and subsist mainly on lichens during the winter.