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Caribou in the USA

Discussion in 'General Zoo Discussion' started by elefante, 9 Aug 2019.

  1. elefante

    elefante Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Does anyone know if there are breeding programs for specific subspecies of caribou in the USA? For example, woodland caribou have become rare, are there programs for those? Or are they managed as sort of a generic species? I know in general caribou aren't real common in zoos here.
     
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  2. Pleistohorse

    Pleistohorse Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Most Caribou I’ve seen in zoos are domestic reindeer. I believe Northwest Trek specifically refers to their animals as Woodland Caribou.
     
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  3. birdsandbats

    birdsandbats Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I believe Buffalo keeps Woodland Caribou.
     
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  4. Great Argus

    Great Argus Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    San Diego has caribou, no clue what subspecies.

    San Francisco brings in caribou in the winter, domestics pretty certainly.

    It appears caribou are not an intensively managed species by AZA.
     
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  5. Zoological Point

    Zoological Point Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    San Diego's are Siberian Reindeer (R. t. sibiricus)
     
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  6. elefante

    elefante Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Those seem like such incompatible climates for them. Has any zoo ever had reindeer in a petting zoo or are they too aggressive?
     
  7. Ituri

    Ituri Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Northwest Trek and Minnesota Zoo both have woodland caribou. Most others I’m aware of are domestic reindeer.