We always have more questions than answers about the caribou. We often email our Wildlife Biologist friend Quentin, and he helps us with the answers.

Below are some questions and answers about caribou.

If you have other questions about caribou you don't know the answer to, email us!

Do female caribou have a shovel on their antlers?
Males have a small flat part on their antlers called a shovel. The shovel is more rare in females. Usually it is bigger and older females which may have a shovel.

How many fawns does each Doe have?
Most times, a doe has one fawn per year. It has occurred where twins were born, but this is rare.

Do woodland caribou mate with barren ground caribou?
They could mate if they were in the same area during the mating period (called the rut). But the woodland and barren ground caribou are often not in the same area during the rut. Scientists are presently working on DNA tracking to see if there is breeding between neighbouring herds.

Is there feeling in the velvet on the antlers?
Scientists believe there is quite a bit of feeling in the antlers while they have a velvet coating. When the antlers are in velvet a caribou will be careful when walking around trees so as not to hurt, bent or break the antlers. When the velvet comes off, the antlers are dead bone with no feeling.