REINDEER, Rangifer tarandus 



(Conyik) 



Range. — The reindeer, a relative of tlie native 

 caribou, is an Old World form introduced into 

 Alaska, where it occurs chiefly from Bristol Bay 

 northward to Barrow. 



Habitat. — Tundra areas, more so than caribou. 



Form, in Alaska. — There is not general ajrree- 

 ment on the relationship between caribou and rein- 

 deer. A recent revision (Banfield, 1961) places 

 them both in tlie species Rangifer tarandus. Tlie 

 introduced reindeer has been variously referred to 

 Rangifer arcticv^ asiaticus and to Rangifer tarari- 

 dus sibiricus. 



Introduction. — To provide a dependable source 



If' i^ 



_4c. 



of meat, 1,280 semidomesticated reindeer from the 

 Chukotsk Peninsula and the Gulf of Anadyr coast, 

 Siberia, were transplanted to northwestern Alaska, 

 mainly on the Seward Peninsula, from 1891 to 

 1902. They thrived at first, and increased to 600,- 

 000 by 19.36, but then declined to about 25,000 in 

 1950. In 1929 the Canadian Government pur- 

 chased about 2,400, the nucleus of the present herds 

 near the Mackenzie and Anderson Rivers, and on 

 Richards Island. Reindeer compete for food and 

 space with the native caribou, with whom they 

 also interbreed; they now appear to be established 

 on the tundra from the south shore of Norton 

 Sound (St. Michael) to Point Barrow, as well as 

 on Atka, Kodiak, Nunivak, the Pribilofs, St. 

 Lawrence, St. Matthew, and Umnak Islands. A 

 total of 768 animals (130 of them calves) were 

 tallied on Kodiak Island in 1963, most of them 

 near the Olga Bay Narrows. In 1944, 29 animals 

 were released on St. Matthew Island; they had 

 increased to 1,350 by 1957; by 1963 they were esti- 

 mated at approximately 6,000. This increased 

 pressure on the range was evidenced by reduced 

 lichen growth, dying back of willows, and adult 

 reindeer weighing less and possessing practically 

 no subcutaneous fat. 



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