The FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) includes the Office of Minor Use and Minor Species Animal Drug Development (OMUMS), which focuses on helping ensure that safe and effective medications are available for less common animal species, including animals such as Santa’s legendary reindeer. But are Santa’s animals actually reindeer, or are they caribou?

Reindeer and caribou are the same species

Reindeer and caribou are two names for the same animal, scientifically known as Rangifer tarandus. They belong to the deer family.

The name used depends largely on where the animals live. In Europe, they are generally called reindeer. In North America, wild populations are usually called caribou, while domesticated animals are referred to as reindeer.

Both males and females grow antlers

Unlike most deer species, where only males develop antlers, both male and female reindeer grow these impressive structures.

Relative to their body size, reindeer have the largest and heaviest antlers of any living deer species. Male reindeer can grow antlers reaching up to 51 inches in length, while females may develop antlers measuring around 20 inches.

Reindeer shed and regrow their antlers

Antlers are different from horns because they are temporary structures. Horns remain throughout an animal’s life, while antlers are naturally shed and replaced with a new, larger set each year.

Male reindeer usually begin growing their antlers in February, while females start in May. Although both sexes complete antler growth around the same time, they lose them during different seasons.

Males typically shed their antlers in late autumn and remain without them until the following spring. Females usually keep their antlers throughout winter and lose them after giving birth in spring.

Their hairy hooves help them survive

Reindeer have hair covering almost their entire bodies, including their noses and the bottoms of their feet. Their furry hooves may appear unusual, but they provide important advantages.

The hair around their feet helps them maintain traction while walking across icy surfaces, deep snow, muddy ground, and frozen landscapes.

Reindeer have unique noses

Reindeer are the only deer species with hair completely covering their noses. Their specialized noses help warm cold air before it reaches their lungs, allowing them to survive in freezing environments.

Their excellent sense of smell is also essential for survival. Reindeer use their noses to locate food buried beneath snow, detect possible threats, and identify their surroundings. They often travel facing into the wind so they can better detect scents carried through the air.

What do reindeer eat?

Reindeer have a varied diet that includes mosses, herbs, ferns, grasses, and the leaves and shoots of trees and shrubs, especially willow and birch.

During the harsh winter months, they depend heavily on lichens, often called reindeer moss, as well as fungi. They use their hooves to scrape away snow and uncover these hidden food sources.

An adult reindeer typically consumes between 9 and 18 pounds of vegetation each day.

Reindeer live and migrate in large groups

Reindeer are highly social animals that spend much of their time traveling, feeding, and resting together in herds. These groups may contain anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred animals.

During spring migration, they can gather into enormous super-herds containing between 50,000 and 500,000 individuals. These herds follow available food supplies and may travel as far as 1,000 miles southward when winter conditions make food difficult to find.

Reindeer are the only widely domesticated deer

Among all deer species, reindeer are unique because they have been widely domesticated by humans.

People have traditionally used reindeer as working animals to pull heavy loads. They are also raised for valuable resources such as milk, meat, and hides.

Medicine helps protect domesticated reindeer

The FDA has approved the antiparasitic medication ivermectin for treating and controlling warbles in reindeer.

Warbles are caused by the larvae of the reindeer warble fly. These larvae can enter the skin of reindeer and damage the quality of milk, meat, and hides produced by domesticated herds. In some cases, the larvae can also create health risks for humans.

How reindeer became part of Christmas tradition

The connection between reindeer and Santa Claus became popular in the early 19th century. In 1823, the Troy Sentinel published the famous poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, better known as “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.”

This poem introduced the idea of eight flying reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh and was the first time the animals were given individual names.

Can you remember all eight of Santa’s original reindeer?

The story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Rudolph joined Santa’s team much later, in 1939, when Robert L. May created the story of “the most famous reindeer of all” for a Christmas coloring book produced by his employer, the department store Montgomery Ward.

The company distributed these coloring books as holiday gifts for children to encourage families to visit their stores during the Christmas season.

Before choosing the name Rudolph, May considered two other names for his famous red-nosed character.

Rudolph’s song made him famous worldwide

In 1948, Robert L. May’s brother-in-law Johnny Marks transformed the Rudolph story into a song. The song first appeared in a cartoon shown in movie theaters, but it was not released as a separate recording until 1949.

That year, Gene Autry, known as “The Singing Cowboy,” recorded the song, and it quickly became a huge success. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer went on to become one of the best-selling Christmas songs in history.

Christmas reindeer quiz answers

Santa’s original eight reindeer are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen.

Before choosing Rudolph, Robert L. May considered the names Rollo and Reginald.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is most likely female because a reindeer with antlers on Christmas Eve would typically be a female. Male reindeer usually lose their antlers earlier in the year.