Reindeer and Caribou will often stand in water during warmer temperature as an aid in cooling off. As they do not sweat, this is an effective method to help reduce their overall body temperature. Instead, the temperature in the lower legs is allowed to go down to about 33 F, just above freezing, while the chest and abdomen are still kept at the normal body temperature of 101.5 F.
Leg temperature is lowered by the tightening, or constriction, of the blood vessels feeding the legs. This allows the legs to heat back to normal body temperature. This ability to cool down or warm up the lower legs allows the reindeer to conserve heat within the body.
The "normal" temperature for a reindeer is 38.9, with a bit of normal variation - some run a bit high or low. But if its above 39.5, they're running a fever. A normal body temperature for a reindeer in a cold environment is about 38°C.
The animals on the treadmill weren't forced to exert themselves much but their temperature eventually rose to 39°. The high density of blood vessels helps the reindeer regulate their body temperature. More on temperature regulation in a bit.
Already from the start of the experiment, the average body temperature was 0.5°C lower in the WB. On December 22nd, 2015 we learned about The remarkable heat-regulation of reindeer Guest Author: Thing Feed If you're an animal native to places where the winter temperature averages no higher than 30° Fahrenheit, you've got to have a solid way to cope with cold. Reindeer, and their Canadian counterparts, caribou, have taken this to heart with a number of interesting adaptations to not.
Abstract: Deep body temperature was recorded in two female Svalbard reindeer during summer and winter. The reindeer were subjected to naturally occurring weather, photoperiod and stimuli in outdoor pens on Svalbard. A telemetry system was employed using transmitters ingested into the rumen.
Mean deep body temperature was 0.3°C higher in winter and while the animals were lying down. This. Body temperature in reindeer from experiment 1, mean ± SD for controls (group C, n = 5), healthy reindeer in group SP (n = 3, first observation on day 14), healthy reindeer in groups PL and PS (n.