REINDEER GRAZING INVESTIGATIONS IN ALASKA 9 
this, the presence of several tame sled reindeer in the herd is of 
greater value in the better domestication of the herd than is com- 
monly supposed. 
REINDEER MEAT 
Many persons still seem to be under the impression that the rein- 
deer is a game animal and that the meat is venison. This is not 
the case. The reindeer has been developed from the wild caribou 
of northern Europe and Asia through countless generations of 
breeding, and as the breeding up has been without particular direc- 
tion, the present type is perhaps not far removed from the original. 
There is some difference, however, in conformation and general 
coloration 2 between reindeer of Siberian descent and the caribou 
of Alaska and Canada, and considerable difference in the tempera- 
ment of the animals and in range habits. 
Reindeer meat, when properly produced and handled, compares 
favorably with beef. It is fine grained, contains a good, palatable 
fat, and when fresh is exceptionally juicy and tender. C. F. Lang- 
worthy, of the Bureau of Home Economics, comments upon rein- 
deer meat as a food, in a memorandum to the Biological Survey, 
as follows : 
Many studies have been made of the composition of different sorts of inear, 
of cooking qualities, and of thoroughness of digestion. Judging by available 
data, meat from different animals used as food is very similar in its general 
composition. 
Besides the considerable amount of water present, meats contain protein 
or nitrogenous material, fats in varying amounts, minute proportions of 
glycogen or animal sugar, and some ash constituents. The percentage of fat 
varies very greatly with feed and other matters. 
Some cuts are considered better flavored and some more tender than others, 
but. generally speaking, meats of different kinds and cuts are very similar in 
their food value and digestibility, meat protein like other complete protein 
being used for the building and repair of body tissue, and the fat of meat, 
like other fats, as body fuel. This applies in a general way to game also. 
To understand the place of meats (including reindeer meat) and other 
foods in the diet, one should remember that in order to be well balanced the 
diet, week in and week out. should provide: (1) Vegetables and fruit, valuable 
for ash and vitamin constituents; (2) meat. milk. eggs. fish, and other foods 
that supply ''complete" protein: (3) cereal grains and their products, as 
sources of carbohydrate for energy or body fuel: (4) sugar and other sweets, 
as flavor foods and sources of body fuel; and (5) fat. as a source of body fuel, 
which in some cases, as in butter and cream, is accompanied by vitamin. Rein- 
deer meat is well fitted to take its place with other meats. 
Reindeer have been bred for food purposes for centuries in northern Asia, 
which is clear indication of their fitness for food. The flavor is excellent, the 
food value compares well with other meats, and the meat is wholesome and 
can be prepared for the table in a variety of ways. 
FEEDING EXPERIMENTS 
FEEDING PREFERENCES OF REINDEER 
Reindeer are herbivorous and ruminant animals, feeding chiefly 
on sedges, grasses, and browse plants in summer and on lichens in 
winter. They are known at times also to eat mice, dried fish, and 
ptarmigans and their eggs, a habit that probably may be attributed 
to a craving for certain mineral substances. The value of the differ- 
2 U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 1089, pp. 9 and 10. 
