Focus on the caribou, an emblematic Canadian animal

The caribou is a mammal belonging to the family of Cervidae. Its dark brown color makes it easy to identify. Its belly, mane and neck are creamy white in color. In this article, you will learn about the three species of caribou in Canada. Zoom in on this emblematic Canadian animal!

Generally, the size and weight depend on the subspecies to which the caribou belong. In this way, the approximate weight of males can reach from 125 to 275 kg, that of females varies from 90 to 139 kg. Newborns, on the other hand, weigh 5 to 9 kg. These animals are among the most symbolic ruminants in Canada. Both sexes carry antlers (plumes in Quebec) on their heads, which they lose in the fall season. Vessels carrying blood, which are in the plumes, ensure their development. The wide hooves have a tuft of hair between the toes. They play the role of natural snowshoes when walking on the snow-covered terrain. This animal adapts perfectly to its environment; it retains heat thanks to its stocky and short body. It moves easily in the snow thanks to its long legs. Its thick, long fur forms an effective insulator, even during the windy and low-temperature seasons. Its tail and muzzle are short and well covered with hair.

Caribou are found in North America, but also in the northern regions of Quebec

Caribou feed mainly on bark, bushes, grasses and lichens. These deer must rummage indiscreetly under the snow so that they can feed. To meet their needs, they move from one region to another, and this, according to the seasons.

Caribou are mature when they reach two and a half years of age. On average, the management period of the female is eight months. She can give birth to one or two caribou. Many of them are not resistant to cold and snow.

The lifespan of a caribou in the wild can reach 12 to 15 years. While in captivity, it can live up to 20 years.

Caribou are able to move through water using their hollow hairs.

The woodland caribou is a deer whose adult weight is between 80 and 205 kg, depending on the sex. The female woodland caribou weighs less than the male. The caribou has long legs with wide concave hooves. These are divided into two, and help it in its movement in the snowy grounds and also facilitate the search for any substance which is used for its food. Compared to other species, its size is clearly larger and its color is darker.

Woodland caribou usually pass through northern or boreal forests from Yukon Territory and British Columbia to Newfoundland and Labrador. In high relief areas of western Canada, woodland caribou move from a wintering location that is on a sloping topographic surface, between high points to a summering range alpine tundra. In the flat areas of the boreal forest located further east, many caribou belonging to this subspecies camp in the mature forests. They occupy ombrotrophic peat bogs, wet lowlands or minerotrophs.

In Quebec, this subspecies of caribou is distributed in small groups, otherwise known as herds, in a band of boreal forests approximately 500 km long. It is located between the 49th and the fifty-fifth parallel of northern latitude. This deer uses types of habitats that vary according to the serenity of the place, the availability of any substance that ensures its nutrition, the seasons and the risks associated with predation.

Depending on the season, some leave one place and go to another for only a few kilometers. Others travel a long distance. Some herds fail to keep up with this trend and travel long distances between the geographical environments specific to their life and their habitats in the tundra, and this, depending on the season. The Leaf River caribou herd, which occupies northwestern Quebec, and the George River caribou herd are among the largest caribou herds in North America. They have 600,000 and 400,000 animals respectively.

This caribou subspecies is pale in color and small in size. It is found exclusively in the islands of the Arctic Archipelago, where the population numbers approximately 10,000 animals. Generally, caribou belonging to this subspecies of Canadian caribou do not undertake significant migrations, although many of them may move from place to place. This is particularly the case when harsh frost conditions force them to leave or abandon their usual distribution sites. By the power of Canada's Species at Risk Act, Peary caribou are listed as endangered. It is also one of the endangered species according to the law on animal species at risk of extinction.

In adulthood, the male of this subspecies of caribou measures approximately 110 cm at the withers. Its weight reaches up to 140 kg in the fall, when it is at its peak. This decreases to 100 kg in November, following a month of sexual activity. In winter, the weight of the female becomes approximately 85 kg.

Almost one of two equal parts of Canada's entire caribou population is made up of barren-ground caribou. It is faintly colored than woodland caribou and its size is smaller. During or almost all the year, it passes in the tundra in the interior of Alaska to that of the island of Baffin. Many of this subspecies of Canada's caribou, approximately 1 million animals, congregate in 8 major herds. Depending on the season, they migrate from the tundra to the taiga. Approximately one hundred and twenty thousand other tundra caribou make up the smaller herds that spend the whole year in the wilderness characterized by discontinuous vegetation or tundra. Approximately half is locked up on Baffin Island.