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Photo: G. Bradley
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UK
Safari Tip:
Get help identifying deer and other British land mammals with this fully
illustrated ID chart - click here
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Latin name: Rangifer tarandus
Size: Approximately 120cms
Distribution: One wild herd can be found on the Cairngorm Mountains in
Scotland.
Months seen: All year round
Food: Lichen, fungi and vegetation
Habitat: In northern Europe reindeer live on arctic tundra and taiga.
They are able to survive closer to the North Pole than any other deer.
Special features: Both male and female reindeer have antlers.
They have a coat of long, grey-brown, hollow hairs, which is underlaid by a coat
of softer dense fur, so they are well adapted to cope with cold temperatures.
The coat becomes lighter in colour in winter.
Reindeer have wide, splayed hooves which enable them to spread weight on soft snow to prevent them sinking.
Also the hairs between the hooves grows long to help them grip on ice.
Reindeer probably died out in the UK about 8500 years ago. They were re-introduced
to the Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland in 1952 by a reindeer herder called Mikel
Utsi, when he brought some of his own reindeer over from Sweden. The herd, which
now numbers around 150 were all born in Scotland.
Visits to the reindeer herd can be arranged. For details phone the Cairngorm Reindeer
Centre on: +44 (0) 1479 861228.
UK Safari Deer Section
UK Safari Mammal Section
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