Woodland caribous diet
Today caribou can be found in parts of North America, Russia and Scandinavia. In the United States, two subspecies can be found. Rangifer tarandus granti or barren ground caribou, more well-known due to their long-distance migrations, total 950,000 and occur throughout Alaska and northern Canada. There are seven subspecies of caribou, totaling approximately 5 million individuals. Today, the woodland caribou is one of the most critically endangered mammals in the U. In the summertime, when vegetation is more plentiful, Caribou will feed on a. It can also be found in the state of Alaska. Diet T he diet of the Caribou varies as the seasons change. These last caribou in the continental U. S. S. are a type of woodland caribou known as mountain caribou because they migrate to high alpine peaks in the winter. , with only a few woodland caribou found south of the Canada border each year. Their large, concave hooves allow them to travel in deep snow conditions. Caribou are well adapted to living in the tundra with thick fur and skin that enable them to enter frigid rivers while migrating. Males weigh about twice as much on average but can weigh up to as much as 600 pounds.
Two subspecies have already been driven to extinction. Size and Description Female Caribou will weigh about 200 pounds, and can weigh as little as 180 pounds as adults. This distinction is based largely on habitat use and behavior. This population, known as the International Selkirk population, is extremely rare, with only about 27 individuals left. There are two ecotypes within the Rangifer tarandus caribou, or woodland caribou, subspecies: mountain woodland caribou and northern woodland caribou. Caribou are a member of the deer family and are adapted to cope with harsh winter conditions. In the wintertime, Caribou will use their hooves to dig through snow to get to moss and other lichens that lie beneath the arctic surface. Located T he C aribou, or Reindeer, is located in northern countries such as Canada, Russia, Greenland, Finland, Norway and Sweden. S. It takes 80 to 150 years for a forest to grow enough lichens for caribou. The worldwide population of mountain caribou has plummeted recently to fewer than 2000, in small, isolated populations at severe risk of elimination. Habitat C aribou are migratory animals and are known for mass migrations across the tundra in search of food. The hooves of caribou are wide to assist supporting it on surfaces such as mud and snow, and wide hooves will also help the caribou to dig and swim. Woodland caribou are also known to eat shrubs, grasses and willows. Woodland caribou have been reduced to one tiny population in the U. , in far northern Idaho and northeastern Washington.
