What are the Toronto Zoo’s reindeer up to? For the caribou the holiday fun means battling Christmas trees. “They love to battle them with their antlers.” StarTogether
Most of the characters are male but they are actually designed and animated as female. It’s all in the horns. Coons, one of eight keepers at the Toronto Zoo’s Canadian Domain and Tundra Trek and one of the reindeer’s caretakers and primary trainers, calls it“Differences between males and females can be found by looking at their antlers,” she says. “Males grow their antlers for sparring during rut and they fall off shortly after, late autumn, early December.
Reindeer — order Artiodactyla, family Cervidae and species Rangifer tarandus — are found in northern North America, northern Europe and Asia. They have similarities to other deer, including their antlers, but reindeer are the only species whose males and females grow them. Reindeer are further divided into subspecies, including caribou, which are found in the northern US and throughout much of Canada. “Technically,” says Coons, “all caribou are reindeer, but not all reindeer are caribou.
Although made for cold and snow — caribou grow thick, long winter coats and beards and a waterproof outer layer of hair over smaller hollow hairs, which trap warmth against their skin — they adapt to the summer heat. Many wild herds migrate to warmer climates in spring and summer to graze and to calve.
At the zoo, caribou are fed a diet of alfalfa-hay mix, grass-based herbivore pellet and tree-based moose pellet, in addition to browse , beet pulp, fruits and vegetables. The zoo also provides enrichment items, including trees, balls, jugs and toys. A favourite this time of year is Christmas trees. “They love to battle them with their antlers,” says Coons.
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