Reindeer, also known as horned deer. It is the only animal of the genus Reindeer in the family Cervidae.

The body length is 100~125 cm, and the shoulder height is 100~120 cm. Both sexes have horns, and the complex branching of the horns is an important feature of their appearance.

The long horns are intricately branched, sometimes more than 30 forks, the hooves are broad, the overhang hooves are well developed, and the tail is extremely short. The body of the reindeer is covered with a light but extremely cold-resistant fur.

The coat color of different subspecies and sexes varies significantly from season to season, from the dark tan of male woodland caribou in the summer to the white of Greenland. The main coat colors are brown, off-white, flower white, and white.

The Chinese name for reindeer, which is generally found on the abdomen, neck and above the hooves, is a bit misappropriate, because the reindeer are not actually domesticated.

Caribou refers to the wild reindeer distributed in North America, and the reindeer distributed in Northern Europe and managed and domesticated by the Lapp people are called Reindeer.

Reindeer are relatively large, with females weighing more than 150 kilograms and males slightly smaller at around 90 kilograms. Both males and females have a pair of dendritic horns up to 8 meters wide and are replaced once a year, with the old ones falling off and the new ones beginning to grow.

Historically, deer and humans have been closely related, about 2 million years ago, geologically known as the late Pleistocene, the reindeer distributed in Eurasia were one of the main food for humans.

At that time, humans mainly relied on preying on reindeer for nutrition, which lasted for about thousands of years. So, the ancestors of mankind always regarded the deer as holy, endowed with many beautiful myths and legends. The same is true in the West, where they let the deer pull carts for Santa Claus and give gifts to children.

The real reindeer are the reindeer domesticated by the Nordic Lapland and the Evenks of northern China, but there are no more wild reindeer in China, and in the vast forests of the north, there is no longer the sound of the Evenks ringing birch bark buckets when calling reindeer.

The reindeer are medium in size, with a head length of 120-220 cm, a shoulder height of 87-140 cm, a male antler length of 52-130 cm, a female antler length of 23-80 cm, and a weight of 60-318 kg.

Both male and female have horns, the horn trunk bends forward, each branch has branches, the male departs in March, and the female is slightly later, around mid to late April.

The head of the reindeer is long and straight, the mouth is thick, the lips are developed, the eyes are large, the orbits are prominent, the nostrils are large, the neck is thick and short, the drooping is obvious, there is no nose mirror, the nostrils are short and fluffy, the ears are short like horse ears, the forehead is concave, the neck is long, the shoulders are slightly raised, the back and waist are straight, the tail is short, the main hooves are large and broad, the central fissure line is deep, the overhanging hooves are large, the palms are broad, the largest of the deer, and they can touch the ground when walking, so they are suitable for walking on snow and rough roads.

About 10 days after birth, the deer begin to grow first-horned velvets.

There is a large gap in morphology between different reindeer subspecies. In general, reindeer living in the southern regions are larger than their northern counterparts.

Reindeer can reach a shoulder width of 120 cm and a length of between 5 and 3 meters. There are also body size differences between males and females, with some subspecies having males up to twice as large as females, but both male and female reindeer have horns on their heads, which is one of the distinguishing features of reindeer from other deer species.

The long horns are intricately branched, sometimes more than 30 forks, the hooves are wide, the overhangs are well developed, the speed is extremely fast, and the tail is extremely short.

The dorsal coat color of the body is gray-brown and chestnut-brown in summer, the ventral surface and the lower part of the tail, and the inner side of the limbs are white, and the winter hair is slightly light, gray-brown or gray-brown, and the beard and will be ** dense, showing self-color.

Hair removal begins in May, and winter hair grows in September. The coat color of different subspecies and sexes varies significantly from season to season, from the dark tan of male woodland caribou in the summer to the white of Greenland.

The main coat colors are brown, off-white, flower white, and white. White is usually found on the abdomen, neck, and above the hooves.

It inhabits cold temperate coniferous forests and is in a semi-wild state. The food is mainly litmus, but also the young branches and leaves of horsetails, mushrooms and woody plants. The Evenki hunters take care of the reindeer very extensively, live a nomadic life of "living in litmus", move from time to time, and are mainly active in the area of the Rapids, Amur River, Huma River and Abba River in the north of the Great Khing'an Mountains.

The most striking move of the reindeer is the annual migration of hundreds of kilometres. spring

As soon as the day comes, they leave the forests and grasslands of the subarctic region where they winter, and head north along a route that has remained unchanged for centuries.

And it is always led by the female deer, followed by the male deer, in an orderly manner, driving straight in, eating as they go, day and night, taking off their thick winter clothes along the way, and giving birth to new thin summer clothes, and the fluff that has been taken off falls on the ground, which happens to become a road sign.

Year after year, I don't know how many centuries have passed. The reindeer always move at a constant speed, and only when they are disturbed by wolves or chased by hunters, they will come and run violently, making earth-shattering loud noises, raising dust from the sky, breaking the tranquility of the grassland, and starting a competition for life on the otherwise silent northern pole.

Young reindeer grow faster than any other animal, and the doe conceive in the winter and give birth in the spring on their migrates. The cubs can follow the doe two or three days after birth, and after a week, they can run as fast as their parents, reaching speeds of up to 48 kilometers per hour.

The food is mainly litmus, but also the young branches and leaves of horsetails, mushrooms and woody plants. Artificial breeding needs to be fed with salt regularly, and mosquitoes are smoked in summer, and during the reindeer calving, help the doe take care of the cubs and drive away wolves, bears and other natural enemies.

The rest of the time, the reindeer are free to feed in the forest and are not supervised.

It is found in Eurasia, North America, and southern Siberia. The Chinese subspecies is distributed on the northwest slope of the Daxing'an Mountains, and only a small number of them are raised in the Erguna Left Banner of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Reindeer are circumarctic animals that are widely distributed in northern Eurasia and North America and some large islands, and are also well introduced to South Georgia. According to research, the Chinese reindeer are related to the reindeer in the upper reaches of the Nebuchu River in the northeastern part of Lake Baikal.

Chinese reindeer are semi-domesticated populations. Due to long-term inbreeding, genetic decline is serious, coupled with diseases and natural enemies, the number of deaths and deaths is roughly offset.

Reindeer are the most abundant species of cervid, with 3.9 million reindeer in the wild worldwide in 1986.

The former Soviet Union is the country with the most reindeer.

According to 1985 statistics, there were 980,000 wild reindeer and 2.23 million semi-domestic reindeer in Russia, which were used by about 15-20% per year.

Reindeer are a source of meat for northern peoples living near the Arctic Circle, and also use their fur, deer milk or as a means of transportation. For example, the Indians of North America, the Sakhalai people of the Kola Peninsula, and the Evenks of northern Asia are all similar in that they all attach great importance to the management and protection of reindeer.

The Evenki are the only reindeer breeder in China, in the long years of history, the reindeer have made important contributions to the daily life and production of the Evenki, the ancient Evenki people from the wild animals "Sogzhao" after catching, in the long-term production practice gradually domesticated into today's reindeer.

The Evenki reindeer are called "Oren", and both male and female reindeer have horns.

The antlers of the reindeer resemble a deer rather than a deer, the head resembles a horse rather than a horse, the hooves resemble an ox rather than a cow, and the body resembles a donkey rather than a donkey, so it is commonly known as the "four dislikes". Reindeer are good at crossing forests and swamps, is the main means of production and transportation for hunting Evenki hunters, reindeer has become an indispensable precious economic animal in the daily life of Evenki people, known as the "boat of the forest and sea", is the second class of national protected animals.

The characteristics of reindeer are: its temperament is mild, easy to raise and graze, forage for mosses and other wild plants, and adapt to the alpine zone of the Great Khing'an Mountains (Egeden) to thrive.

The coat color of reindeer is brown, off-white, flower white, and white.

The Evenks, young and old, who hunt for a living, love and protect the reindeer very much, and regard them as a symbol of auspiciousness, happiness and progress, as well as a symbol of the pursuit of beauty and lofty ideals. Therefore, the reindeer has national characteristics and is very representative, and the Evenks identify the reindeer as the mascot of the Evenki people.