Reindeer

Rangifur tarandus
IUCN Red List: Vulnerable

Reindeer have been featured in winter celebrations since the early Neolithic period (10,000 BCE). The female reindeer was revered as a deeply spiritual figure linked to fertility, motherhood, regeneration, and the giver of light and life ¹. Female reindeer are larger than the males and are the only ones to have antlers in the winter.

These precious creatures are threatened by climate change. As the Arctic warms 4X faster than the rest of the world ², it's becoming harder for the reindeer to find enough food to stay alive. If we don't act now, the reindeer will soon become extinct.

Our Gift to You!

Download your free digital greeting card featuring the Reindeer. Gift it to a loved one!

This is an original card designed by CACC; it is protected under copyright laws and cannot be sold.

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The Sámi people

are the only indigenous people left in Europe. They have been herding reindeer in the Arctic since the 17th century. While the reindeer struggle to survive in the warming Arctic, the Sámi's way of life is also in jeopardy.

The Sámi have over 400 words for the different types of snow.

As the Arctic continues to warm 4X faster than the rest of the globe, a new type of snow has appeared that has no name.

This is gray reindeer lichen (Cladonia rangiferina).

Increasing warming conditions cause the snow to freeze over, making it impossible for the reindeer and other animals to dig through the snow to get to the lichen, which they rely on as their primary food source in the winter. Thus, starvation due to climate change has become a serious threat for the reindeer population.