Reindeer
Rangifer tarandus (Linnaeus, 1758)
The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), also called Caribou, is a large mammal in the family Cervidae, order Artiodactyla. It is a diurnal, terrestrial herbivore of forest habitats, with main foods listed as lichen, cladonia rangiferina, carex, salix, mushroom, arctic char, fish, bird egg, lemming and rodent.
Quick facts about the reindeer
Adults have a representative body mass of 86 kg, with up to 110.5 kg reported, and the lifespan is 20.2 years, with up to 21.8 years reported. The reindeer is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, an IUCN threatened category.
- Weight
- 86 kg – 110.5 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 20.2 years – 21.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- arctic char, bird egg, carex, cladonia rangiferina, fish, lemming and 4 moresrc for Main food
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 223 days – 229 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1.1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 22.3 months – 22.8 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the reindeer
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the reindeer live?
Not recorded
What is the reindeer?
The reindeer or caribou (Rangifer tarandus) is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to the Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only representative of the genus Rangifer. More recent studies suggest the splitting of reindeer and caribou (North American terminology). "All caribou and reindeer throughout the world are considered to be the same species, but there are seven subspecies."
Reindeer occur in both migratory and sedentary populations, and their herd sizes vary greatly in different regions. The tundra subspecies are adapted for extreme cold, and some are adapted for long-distance migration.
Reindeer vary greatly in size and color from the smallest, the Svalbard reindeer (R. (t.) platyrhynchus), to the largest, Osborn's caribou (R. t. osborni). Although reindeer are quite numerous, some species and subspecies are in decline and considered vulnerable. They are unique among deer (Cervidae) in that females may have antlers, although the prevalence of antlered females varies by subspecies.
Reindeer are the only successfully semi-domesticated deer on a large scale in the world. Both wild and domestic reindeer (R. t. forma domesticus) have been an important source of food, clothing, and shelter for Arctic people from prehistoric times. They are still herded and hunted today. In some traditional Christmas legends, Santa Claus's reindeer pull a sleigh through the night sky to help Santa Claus deliver gifts to good children on Christmas Eve.
From the Wikipedia article “Reindeer” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reindeer&oldid=1384293534), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the reindeer endangered?
The reindeer is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.
How is the reindeer classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyCervidae
- genusRangifer
- SpeciesRangifer tarandus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Cervus tarandus, Rangifer spitzbergensis, Rangifer tarandus buskensis, Rangifer tarandus caboti, Rangifer tarandus dawsoni, Rangifer tarandus osborni, Rangifer tarandus terraenovae
Other names and names in other languages (95)
- CaribouEnglish
- Caribou (North America)English
- Peary caribouEnglish
- KariboeAfrikaans
- トゥナカィAinu
- トナッカィAinu
- Itx̂aygix̂Aleut
- HránOld English
- رنةArabic
- كاريبوArabic
- renuAsturian
- Şimal maralıAzerbaijani
- Паўночны аленьBelarusian
- Северен еленBulgarian
- বল্গা হরিণBangla
- Karv-erc'hBreton
- Çурçĕр пăланChuvash
- ᐊᑎᐦᒄCree
- Sob polárníCzech
- Carw LlychlynWelsh
- Ceirw LlychlynWelsh
- RensdyrDanish
- RenntierGerman
- RentierGerman
- ΤάρανδοςGreek
- BoacoEsperanto
- RenoSpanish
- CaribúSpanish
- PõhjapõderEstonian
- Elur-oreinBasque
- گوزن شمالیPersian
- MetsäpeuraFinnish
- peuraFinnish
- caribouFrench
- RenneFrench
- RéinfhiaIrish
- FastScottish Gaelic
- אייל הצפוןHebrew
- rénszarvasHungarian
- RentiroIdo
- ᑐᒃᑐInuktitut
- HreindýrIcelandic
- RennaItalian
- CaribùItalian
- renna / caribùItalian
- トナカイJapanese
- tuttuKalaallisut
- 순록Korean
- Şivira kedîKurdish
- TarandrusLatin
- PūojpõddõrzLivonian
- Šiaurinis elniasLithuanian
- PūstumaļņsLatgalian
- ZiemeļbriedisLatvian
- qalipuMi'kmaw
- Цаа бугаMongolian
- Tsaa BugaMongolian
- रेनडियरMarathi
- ကဲရီဘူးသမင်Burmese
- Hakʼaz bįįhNavajo
- KaribuNorwegian Bokmål
- reinNorwegian Bokmål
- villreinNorwegian Bokmål
- rendierDutch
- reinsdyrNorwegian Nynorsk
- Chèr du Nordnrm
- RangièrOccitan
- adikOjibwa
- ReniferPolish
- Renifer tundrowyPolish
- رینڈیئرWestern Panjabi
- RenaPortuguese
- Северный оленьRussian
- Cеверный оленьRussian
- boazuNorthern Sami
- goddiNorthern Sami
- SobSlovak
- severni jelenSlovenian
- ИрвасSerbian
- tamrenSwedish
- renSwedish
- vildrenSwedish
- Kulungu AktikiSwahili
- పలవల దుప్పిTelugu
- กวางเรนเดียร์Thai
- Ren geyiğiTurkish
- Ren Geyiği (Karibu)Turkish
- شىمال بۇغىسىUyghur
- Олень північнийUkrainian
- Північний оленьUkrainian
- رینڈیرUrdu
- Tuần lộcVietnamese
- 馴鹿Chinese
- 驯鹿Chinese
- Inyamazane yase-AthikiZulu
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the reindeer
Other species in the same family Cervidae.
Moose
Alces alces
Red deer
Cervus elaphus
Roe deer
Capreolus capreolus
European fallow deer
Dama dama
Elk
Cervus canadensis
Sika deer
Cervus nippon
CompareReindeer vs MooseReindeer vs Red deerReindeer vs Roe deerReindeer vs European fallow deer
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is a reindeer?
The reindeer is a large mammal in the family Cervidae, subfamily Capreolinae, within the order Artiodactyla.
How heavy is a reindeer?
Adult Reindeer have a representative body mass of 86 kg, and our sources report up to 110.5 kg.
What does a reindeer eat?
The reindeer is classed as a herbivore. Its main foods are listed as arctic char, bird egg, carex, cladonia rangiferina, fish, lemming, lichen, mushroom, rodent and salix.
Is the reindeer endangered?
The reindeer is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, which is an IUCN threatened category.
How long does a reindeer live?
The reindeer has a lifespan of 20.2 years, and our sources report up to 21.8 years.
How many young does a reindeer have?
The reindeer has 1.1 young per litter and 1 litter per year, after a gestation period of 222.5 days.
When does a reindeer reach sexual maturity?
The reindeer reaches sexual maturity at 1.9 years (687.6 days).
Who named the reindeer?
The scientific name Rangifer tarandus is attributed to (Linnaeus, 1758).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/reindeer
“Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/reindeer.
@misc{reindeer_2026,
title = {Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/reindeer},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}