We have seen many caribou at Denali National Park. Caribou are members of the deer family. They are very large. Some caribou weigh 700 pounds!
Baby caribou are born in the spring. They must learn to run very quickly so that wolves and bears cannot catch them. Caribou live in large groups in the winter and spring. After their babies are strong enough to run with their mothers, the caribou scatter into smaller groups for the summer.
Both male and female caribou grow antlers. The bulls lose their antlers in early winter. The younger males and females lose their antlers in early spring. Pregnant females lose their antlers after their babies are born. If you would like to learn more about antlers, see my October 29, 2009, post "Amazing Antlers.")
Caribous move or migrate in large herds in the winter and spring. Some herds number over 200,000 caribou! When the weather begins to get cold, the caribou begin to gather. When winter arrives, all of the caribou come together to migrate to their winter feeding grounds. They can travel up to 50 miles a day. They travel thousands of miles to their winter home. In the spring, the caribou return to their summer home in the high northern tundra.
There are about 900,000 caribou in Alaska. There are nearly 3 million caribou in Canada.
If you would like to learn more about caribou, check out these sites:
http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/kids/animal-facts/pdf/caribou.pdf
AND
http://library.fws.gov/Pubs/caribou.pdf
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