Caribou Fun Facts

Did you know ...

... that Alaska has almost twice as many caribou as people? Alaska's human population numbers around 600,000, while there are over one million caribou in the state. And the government doesn't even pay them to live here!

The largest herd is the Western Arctic herd with almost half the total caribou in Alaska. Other big herds are the Porcupine and the Mulchatna herds. There are twenty-eight smaller wild herds ranging from the North Slope to the Canadian border northeast of Tok, and a few herds of domesticated caribou—or reindeer—on the Seward Peninsula.

Although they're found almost exclusively in Alaska and Canada now, caribou once ranged widely in northern North America and in Northern Europe. But overhunting and habitat destruction led to their eradication from Germany during the Roman era, Great Britain during the Middle Ages, and Poland in the 16th century. Caribou were gone from most of the United States by the beginning of the 20th century.

Did you know ... that caribou are almost constantly on the move? Some caribou migrate more than 3,000 miles each year—farther than any other land animal. They travel in herds every fall and spring from their wintering to their calving grounds, and arrive just in time to think about heading back. Biologists have counted more than 640,000 of these northern nomads in July, spread out across Alaska's North Slope.

Caribou are built to travel. Their large, concave hooves hold them up like snowshoes—both on winter snow and on the soggy summer tundra. In water, those hooves become enormous paddles. Caribou can swim across fast-flowing rivers and large lakes with ease. The hollow hairs of their coat help keep them afloat. A caribou in a hurry can run 50 miles per hour. But you could hardly hurry a caribou when he's only hurrying from where he's headed to.

Learn more about caribou from the Alaska Wildlife Notebook Series.

Learn about the Porcupine Caribou Herd.