🦌 Reindeer (caribou) vs White-tailed deer 🦌
The reindeer (caribou) is about twice as long as the white-tailed deer. The white-tailed deer is about 5 times as fast as the reindeer (caribou). The reindeer (caribou) weighs about twice as much as the white-tailed deer.
| Row | 🦌 Reindeer (caribou) | 🦌 White-tailed deer |
|---|---|---|
| Top speed The white-tailed deer is about 5 times as fast as the reindeer (caribou). | 6 mph9.7 km/h1 | 30 mph48 km/h2 |
| Weight The reindeer (caribou) weighs about twice as much as the white-tailed deer. | 130 to 600 lb59 to 272 kg3 | 90 to 300 lb41 to 136 kg4 |
| Lives The reindeer (caribou) usually lives about one and a half times as long as the white-tailed deer. | 12 to 16 years12 to 16 years5 | 10 years10 years6 |
| Eats Both eat plants. | lichens, grasses, leaves and shoots | leaves, twigs, acorns, grasses and fruit |
| Lives in They can live in the same kind of place. | the tundra and northern forests of North America, Europe and Asia | woods, fields and the edges of towns across North America, and south into northern South America |
Which one? Reindeer (caribou) or white-tailed deer
🏁 Who would win the race?
The white-tailed deer gets to the tree first. Over a short dash it is about 5 times as fast as the reindeer (caribou). It isn't quite fair: the reindeer (caribou) is swimming and the white-tailed deer is running.
We only race. Real animals mostly avoid each other. A race is the only fair contest: who reaches the tree first, by top speed.
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The link carries only the two animals’ names: peabody.kids/animals/compare/reindeer-vs-white-tailed-deer
Where these numbers come from
- National Park Service, Caribou: Did You Know?, checked 30 October 2026.
- National Park Service, Prince William Forest Park, checked 30 October 2026.
- National Park Service, Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, checked 30 October 2026.
- National Park Service, Jewel Cave, checked 30 October 2026.
- USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System, checked 30 October 2026.
- National Park Service, Chattahoochee River, checked 30 October 2026.