12 BULLETIN 1089, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 
There is usually only one fawn at a birth, and twins rarely oc- 
cur. The newborn fawn is remarkably hardy, and is strong and 
fleet of foot soon after birth. Alaskan records are not sufficiently 
complete to show to what age the average doe reindeer continues 
to breed, but it is generally estimated at about 12 years. Yearling 
reindeer sometimes reproduce, but in the Alaskan herds this is not 
common. 
UTILIZATION OF REINDEER. 
Keindeer are of value principally in the production of meat for 
food and skins for clothing. 6 ' 7 In Alaska they have been used thus 
far only to a limited extent as beasts of burden, for packing in 
summer, and for drawing sleds in winter. They will later have an 
added value, in the utilization of such by-products as the horns, 
head, and offal, and other parts of the carcass now wasted in slaugh- 
tering. 
The skin is used chiefly for winter clothing, and in the north 
for sleeping bags. The meat is fine-grained, contains a good, palat- 
able fat, and is not " gamy " in flavor when properly produced and 
handled, but compares favorably with beef. The liver is not unlike 
calves' liver and, as it is of large size, makes an important item 
of food. The tongue and heart are both of good flavor and quality. 
Present regulations governing the native industry prohibit the 
slaughter of does. The average life of a reindeer is about 15 years. 
Full maturity is reached in 4 or 5 years, but nearly full growth is 
attained in the third year. Of the bucks a certain number are set 
aside for breeding purposes and the rest are raised as steers, to be 
butchered when about 3 years old. 
The dressed weight of full-grown Alaskan reindeer will range any- 
where up to 200 pounds in the best-handled herds. The average 
dressed weight, however, for 3-year-old steers is about 150 pounds. 
By cross-breeding with caribou and following a process of selection 
and grading-up of the stock in the herds, the weight eventually will 
be much increased. The Alaskan caribou of certain districts will 
often weigh more than 300 pounds dressed, without the skin. The 
weight of the fresh reindeer skin is generally estimated to be 10 
per cent of the total weight of the dressed carcass. 
SLAUGHTERING AND HANDLING MEAT. 
Modern slaughtering methods are not used in Alaska, except in a 
very few herds. Eeindeer are killed at all seasons of the year, both 
in and out of condition. At present each native goes out by himself 
6 Lomen, Carl J., The camel of the frozen desert : Nat. Geogr. Mag., vol. 3G, no. 6, pp. 
538-556, December, 1919. 
7 Lomen, G. J., The reindeer industry in Alaska : Journ. of Heredity, vol. 11, no. 6, 
July-August, 1920. 
