Caribou

General Info :

The reindeer also known as the caribou in North America is a species of deer. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and at least one has already gone extinct. Wild reindeer hunting and herding of semi-domesticated reindeer (for meat, hides, antlers, milk and transportation) are important to several Arctic and Subarctic peoples. The reindeer is well known in folklore due to Santa Claus's sleigh being pulled by flying reindeer, a popular element of Christmas. In Lapland, reindeer pull pulks. 

Physique :

The females usually measure 162–205 cm (64–81 in) in length and weigh 80–120 kg (180–260 lb). The males (or "bulls") are typically larger (although the extent to which varies in the different subspecies), measuring 180–214 cm (71–84 in) in length and usually weighing 159–182 kg (350–400 lb), though exceptionally large males have weighed as much as 318 kg (700 lb). Shoulder height typically measure from 85 to 150 cm (33 to 59 in), and the tail is 14 to 20 cm (5.5 to 7.9 in) long. The subspecies R. t. platyrhynchus from Svalbard island is. very small compared to other subspecies (a phenomenon known as insular dwarfism), with females having a length of approximately 150 cm (59 in), and a weight around 53 kg (120 lb) in the spring and 70 kg (150 lb) in the autumn, Males are approximately 160 cm (63 in) long, and weigh around 65 kg (140 lb) in the spring and 90 kg (200 lb) in the autumn. The reindeer from Svalbard are also relatively short-legged and may have a shoulder height of as little as 80 cm (31 in).

The colour of the fur varies considerably, both individually and depending on season and subspecies. Northern populations, which usually are relatively small, are whiter, while southern populations, which typically are relatively large, are darker. This can be seen well in North America, where the northernmost subspecies, the Peary caribou, is the whitest and smallest subspecies of the continent, while the southernmost subspecies, the Woodland Caribou, is the darkest and largest. The coat has two layers of fur: a dense woolly undercoat and longer-haired overcoat consisting of hollow, air-filled hairs.

Diet :

They mainly eat lichens in winter, especially reindeer moss. However, they also eat the leaves of willows and birches, as well as sedges and grasses. They will also feed on small rodents like lemmings, arctic char, and bird eggs. Reindeer herded by the Chukchis have been known to devour mushrooms enthusiastically in late summer.

Distribution :

Large populations of wild reindeer are still found in Norway, Finland, Siberia, Greenland, Alaska, and Canada.

Camel

General Info :

A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. The two surviving species of camel are the dromedary, or one-humped camel. Both species have been domesticated; they provide milk, meat, hair for textiles or goods such as felted pouches, and are working animals.

Physique :

A full-grown adult camel stands 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) at the shoulder and 2.15 m (7 ft 1 in) at the hump. Camels can run at up to 65 km/h (40 mph) in short bursts and sustain speeds of up to 40 km/h (25 mph). Bactrian camels weigh 300 to 1,000 kg (660 to 2,200 lb) and dromedaries 300 to 600 kg (660 to 1,300 lb).

Diet :

Camel eat grasses, dried leaves, seeds, and many different types of plants. Especially Dromedary Camels eat a great variety of plants that even include salty types and plants with thorns; they also forage on bones and dried animal carcasses.

Camels regurgitate their food similar to cows. They have a special digestive system that allows them to eat indigestible foods by re-chewing them as “cud.” The “cud” can then be swallowed again for further digestion.

It is widely known that camels have the ability to go without water for extensive periods of time.” They obtain water from the plants that they eat, and when they do get the chance to drink actual water, they drink enormous amounts. This helps to sustain them on the long journeys that they are known to take that last for many miles, carrying goods and people through hot, arid deserts.

Distribution :

There are around 14 million camels alive as of 2010, with 90% being dromedaries. Dromedaries alive today are domesticated animals (mostly living in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, Maghreb, Middle East and South Asia).

 The Bactrian camel is, as of 2010, reduced to an estimated 1.4 million animals, most of which domesticated.  The only truly wild Bactrian camels, of which there are less than one thousand, are thought to inhabit the Gobi Desert in China and Mongolia.

The largest population of feral camels is in Australia. There are around 700,000 feral dromedary camels in central parts of Australia.

A small population of introduced camels, dromedaries and Bactrians, wandered through Southwest United States after having been imported in the 1800s as part of the U.S. Camel Corps experiment.