Here's everything you need to know about reindeer antlers, from when they emerge, how often they shed and more. Rare and Unique Reindeer Colors While most reindeer exhibit shades of brown and gray, some rare individuals possess strikingly white coats. These truly white reindeer are distinct from those with light winter coats, and their unique appearance is usually due to genetic conditions like leucism or albinism.
Reindeer living in the mountainous areas have lighter-coloured and broader antlers, whereas reindeer in the forest areas have darker and narrower antlers, which makes it easier to walk around trees. The Colour of a Reindeer The colouring of a reindeer varies from almost black to white. There are dozens of different names for these colours.
Appearance: Antlers are arguably the reindeer's most defining characteristic. Compared to body size, reindeer have the largest and heaviest antlers of all living deer species. The reindeer they'd met had been a pale brown, with a thick shaggy coat and small antlers, whereas the photo on their certificate was of a sleek black coloured reindeer with large bony antlers.
Reindeer vary greatly in size and color from the smallest, the Svalbard reindeer (R. (t.) platyrhynchus), to the largest, Osborn's caribou (R. t.
osborni). Although reindeer are quite numerous, some species and subspecies are in decline and considered vulnerable. Antlers are the reindeer's most memorable characteristic.
In comparison to body size, reindeer have the largest and heaviest antlers of all living deer species. A male's antlers can measure up to 51 inches (130 centimeters) long, and a female's antlers can reach 20 inches (50 centimeters). Facts about Reindeer Reindeer are large mammals that can be found in the tundra regions of North America, Europe, Asia, and Greenland.
Both male and female reindeer can have antlers, but males usually have larger ones. Sometimes called caribou (CARE-i-boo), they vary in color and size. When the rut is finally complete, the reindeer will start shedding its antlers again in November or December.
This is accompanied by several other anatomical changes, including the growth of a white winter coat, harder hooves to break through the ice and forage for vegetation, and a transformation of the iris color from gold to blue. The males will have completely shed all antlers by the end. Reindeer antlers come in a variety of colors, including brown, black, and white.
Reindeer antlers are made of bone and are covered in a velvet.