Fun Facts
-Reindeer are the only deer species in which males and females both have antlers; mature males (bulls) carry gigantic branched antlers whereas the females (cows) and calves have smaller, simpler ones.
-The antlers of a castrated male are also reduced in size
in relation to uncastrated.9
-Reindeer are able to migrate farther than any other
terrestrial animal—up to 5,000 kilometers a year!
17
-Reindeer can run at speeds between 36 and 48 miles
per hour, and can swim at 6 miles an hour.10
-The caribou was first described by Carolus Linnaeus in 1758.10
-Reindeer first interacted with humans 3,000 years ago.
10
-They are the only deer to be widely domesticated; there are 3 million of them domesticated in northern Eurasia and Alaska today. 10
-The Christmas story and the origin of flying reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh may have originated from consuming hallucinogenic mushrooms!
-The words Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet,
Cupid, Donner and Blitzen originated from Clement
Moore's 1822 poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas.”19
-Rudolph originated in a story written
by Robert May in 1939 for the Montgomery Ward
Chicago department store as a promotion for customers that Christmas season.19
If you want to learn more about reindeer other than what you find on this site, check out the sources I used as references.