Concept

Barren-ground caribou

The barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus; but subject to a recent taxonomic revision. See Reindeer: Taxonomy.) is a subspecies of the reindeer (or the caribou in North America) that is found in the Canadian territories of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, in northern Alaska and in south-western, Greenland. It includes the Porcupine caribou of Yukon and Alaska. The barren-ground caribou is a medium-sized caribou, smaller and lighter-colored than the boreal woodland caribou, with the females weighing around and the males around . However, on some of the smaller islands, the average weight may be less. The large migratory herds of barren-ground caribou take their names from the traditional calving grounds, such as the Ahiak herd, the Baffin Island herds, the Bathurst herd, the Beverly herd (Beverly Lake in western Nunavut), the Bluenose East herd (southwest of Kugluktuk), the Bluenose West herd, the Porcupine herd and the Qamanirjuaq herd. In Canada about fifty percent of all caribou are barren-ground caribou. They spend much or all of the year on the tundra from Alaska to Baffin Island. Most, or about 1.2 million, of the barren-ground caribou in Canada live in eight large migratory herds, which migrate seasonally from the tundra to the taiga, sparsely treed coniferous forests south of the tundra. In order, from Alaska to Hudson Bay, these are the Porcupine herd, Cape Bathurst herd, Bluenose West herd, Bluenose East herd, Bathurst herd, Ahiak herd, Beverly herd, and Qamanirjuaq herd. About 120 000 other barren-ground caribou live in smaller herds that spend the entire year on the tundra. Half of these are confined to Baffin Island. Like the Peary caribou, both the males and females have antlers. In general, during the summer, the coat of the caribou is brown, and much lighter in the winter. The neck and rump tend towards a creamy-white colour. However, the general coloration may differ depending on the region. The barren-ground caribou usually breeds in the fall and calves in June but may not drop their single calf until July.

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Related concepts (2)
Inuit
Inuit (ˈɪnjuᵻt; ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, ᐃᓄᒃ, dual: Inuuk, ᐃᓅᒃ) are a group of culturally similar Indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and Alaska. Inuit languages are part of the Eskimo–Aleut languages, also known as Inuit-Yupik-Unangan, and also as Eskaleut. Inuit Sign Language is a critically endangered language isolate used in Nunavut.
Reindeer
The reindeer or caribou (Rangifer tarandus) is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. This includes both sedentary and migratory populations. It is the only representative of the genus Rangifer. Herd size varies greatly in different geographic regions. More recent studies suggest the splitting of reindeer and caribou into six distinct species over their range.

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