Reindeer Rangifer tarandus Vulnerable
Where the reindeer lives – recorded in 8 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.
Pin and shaded countries are approximate. The pin is a representative wild sighting (a central record among 47,533 open-licence GBIF records), not an official range. Method · Records on GBIF · See deer on the world map
| Scientific name | Rangifer tarandus |
|---|---|
| Group | Deer |
| Status | Vulnerable (Wikidata, IUCN category label) |
| Found in | 8 countries |
| Continents | Europe, North America |
| Diet (main food) | Rodent, fish, Carex, lemming, Cladonia rangiferina, Salix, Arctic char, lichen, bird egg, mushroom |
| Class | Mammal |
| Order | Artiodactyla |
| Family | Cervidae |
Where does the reindeer live?
Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the reindeer in 8 countries and territories across Europe and North America. Wikidata gives its range as: Greenland. In Iceland it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).
Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.
What does a reindeer eat?
Wikidata lists the main food source of the reindeer as: Rodent, fish, Carex, lemming, Cladonia rangiferina, Salix, Arctic char, lichen, bird egg, mushroom.
Is the reindeer endangered?
The reindeer’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Vulnerable” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.
What kind of animal is the reindeer?
The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) is a mammal in the order Artiodactyla and the family Cervidae, genus Rangifer. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)
About 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 7 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.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Reindeer (revision 1381451993), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q39624 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).
Related deer
Browse: all deer · all animal groups · animals by country · all animals