Reindeer (caribou) Facts for Kids
Rangifer tarandus · RAN-jih-fer tuh-RAN-dus
Both male and female reindeer grow antlers, which they shed each year.
- 🏃 6 mph9.7 km/h1
- ⚖️ 130 to 600 lb59 to 272 kg2
- 📏 4.9 to 6.6 ft1.5 to 2 m2 long
- 🎂 12 to 16 years12 to 16 years3
- 🍽️ plants
- Needs help (Vulnerable)
Reindeer live in the cold north. Their big hooves work like snowshoes. In North America, reindeer are called caribou.
Reindeer eat lichen, a crusty growth on rocks and soil, which they dig out from under the snow with their wide hooves. In summer they eat grasses and leaves. Herds travel together across the open land.
Reindeer and caribou are the same kind of animal. Many herds travel a long way each year between winter forests and summer tundra, one of the longest land journeys of any animal. Their hairs are hollow, which traps warm air next to the skin. Some caribou herds are shrinking because roads, mines and warming weather change the places they travel through, so scientists work with people who live in the north to protect their routes.
How big is a reindeer (caribou)?
Reindeer (caribou) in numbers
| Length | 4.9 to 6.6 ft1.5 to 2 m2caribou/reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | 30 in to 4.9 ft76 cm to 1.5 m2shoulder height |
| Weight | 130 to 600 lb59 to 272 kg2 |
| Top speed (swimming) | 6 mph9.7 km/h1swimming |
| How long it lives | 12 to 16 years12 to 16 years3maximum lifespan, species-level (Rangifer tarandus); FWS says the average adult woodland caribou lives eight to ten year |
| What it eats | lichens, grasses, leaves and shoots |
| Where it lives | the tundra and northern forests of North America, Europe and Asia |
| What kind | Mammals |
| Is it in danger? | Needs help (Vulnerable)4 |
A number we couldn’t find on a page we trust says so, instead of guessing.
Wow!
- Reindeer hair is hollow, which traps warm air.
- A reindeer calf can stand and walk soon after it is born.
- Reindeer hooves click as they walk.
Compare the reindeer (caribou)
Friends and neighbours
Moose
Musk ox
White-tailed deerThree questions
Books about the reindeer (caribou), free at the library
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Where these numbers come from
- National Park Service, Caribou: Did You Know?, checked 30 October 2026.
- National Park Service, Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, checked 30 October 2026.
- USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System, checked 30 October 2026.
- Wikidata, from the IUCN Red List, checked 30 October 2026.
- Wikidata, Reindeer (caribou) (Q39624), checked 30 October 2026.