(Real) Reindeer Facts
The region where Reindeer live
What is the Arctic tundra?
This is how reindeer decide which males are going to "get lucky" during the mating season...
What is sparring with their antlers and competing for mating rights?
These are Santa's eight reindeer, excluding Rudolph
Who are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen?
The IUCN lists the reindeer species as this
What is vulnerable?
Reindeer have gone through this process at least two and probably three times
What is domestication?
The interchangeable name given to reindeer living in North America
What is Caribou?
Female reindeer are different from every other female deer because of this
What is female reindeer grow antlers regularly to help scavenge for lichen in the snow?
Animators behind Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer chose to animate Rudolph more similarly to this animal, as it would be more immediately recognizable to children
What is White-tailed deer?
This is the biggest threat to reindeer populations
What is mass deforestation that robs the reindeer of safe breeding spaces and migration routes?
This indigenous group has practiced traditional reindeer herding since the 17th century
Who are The Sami?
You can catch a reindeer munching on these
What are mosses, herbs, grasses, leaves, lichen, and fungi?
Reindeer travel in these during the Spring, forming groups of up to 500,000
What are herds?
The poem, written by Clement Charles Moore in 1773, which first coin's the idea of Santa's Flying Reindeer
What is "A Visit from St. Nicholas"?
Three conservation actions that have been enacted to help reindeer
What is international legislation, ex-situ conservation, and protection areas?
You can find canned reindeer meatballs in these countries
What is Scandinavian?
Reindeer are the only domesticated deer species farmed for their milk, meat, and hides. They were and are also used as these
Dr. Océane Liehrmann led a study on reindeer which concluded that reindeer can understand this with minimal training
What are human instructions and gestures?
This animated character from Frozen is goofy, loyal, playful, and acts more like a dog than a reindeer
Who is Sven?
The percentage by which reindeer populations have declined over the last three generations
What is 40 percent?
In this cold US state you can book a guided experience with reindeer complete with educational information, photos, and up-close interactions
What is Alaska?
This is why scientists argue that Rudolph is actually female
What is male reindeer shed their antlers in autumn, while females, needing them to secure food in winter, retain them until spring?
Female reindeer that become pregnant leave the herd and come here to give birth
What is a traditional calving ground?
Rangifer tarandus is the scientific name for reindeer, and this is likely where the name came from
What is the Old French Word rangier ("reindeer") and the Latin word ferus ("wild or "untamed")?
In 2022 this government agency added a new population of reindeer to its list of federally protected species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act
What is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service?
Studies show that reindeer in captivity respond the most positively to this enrichment
What is food enrichment?