Alaska Wildlife/caribou

Alaska Wildlife

caribou.jpg - Caribou roaming along the Alaska Highway west of Muncho Lake. Male caribou weigh from 350 to 400 pounds and females can weigh from 175 to 225 pounds. Both are dark brown with a white on their neck, rump and feet. The calves are usually reddish brown and the herd’s cows deliver their calves within a five day span of time. Caribou are always on the move. If there isn’t enough food in one place they just move to another place. They eat grasses, sedges and leaves, willows and dwarf birches in the summer, and lichens (reindeer moss) and dried sedges in the winter. Caribou are the only member of the deer family in which both sexes grow antlers (note the “Y” on the head of the caribou on right).

Caribou roaming along the Alaska Highway west of Muncho Lake. Male caribou weigh from 350 to 400 pounds and females can weigh from 175 to 225 pounds. Both are dark brown with a white on their neck, rump and feet. The calves are usually reddish brown and the herd’s cows deliver their calves within a five day span of time. Caribou are always on the move. If there isn’t enough food in one place they just move to another place. They eat grasses, sedges and leaves, willows and dwarf birches in the summer, and lichens (reindeer moss) and dried sedges in the winter. Caribou are the only member of the deer family in which both sexes grow antlers (note the “Y” on the head of the caribou on right).

Total images: 23 | Last update: 9/16/08 2:53 PM | Help