Reindeer, adult and calf (Wildlife by Mojö Fun)

Review and photos by Saarlooswolfhound; edited by bmathison1972

The Mojo Fun reindeer adult and calf, numbers #387186 and #387188 respectively, were released as new products in 2019. They are included in Mojo Fun’s Wildlife range of models. The adult measures at about L-13 W-7 H-13 cm and the calf is L-9 W-2 H-6 cm. The adult figure presented here has a nice mixture of the brown and white variegated coat with proper spindled antlers. It is moving at a trot, perhaps on its way for the yearly migration. The calf is shown as the classic fawn red or warm brown coloration and it too appears to be trotting to keep up with its parent on those long walks around the arctic circle.

Reindeer, or caribou, is a deer species (Rangifer tarandus) adapted to the far northern latitudes of our planet. They are often connected to such cultural stories such as Santa Claus and his affiliated counterparts as the animals that make it possible for him to traverse the world in one night. However, they are very important in a wide variety to the different peoples who live in such northerly climes. The terms reindeer and caribou are often used interchangeable, although ‘reindeer’ often more commonly refers to domestic varieties while ‘caribou’ is more often used for the wild form. The terms are also regional, as reindeer is often used as more commonly by Europeans and Asians while caribou is more often used in North America.

There are several subspecies of reindeer, each are slightly different, in that some forms tend to be smaller bodied and have more spindled antlers that branch out more like a common whitetail deer in form, while others are generally larger and their antlers are webbed and rounded more similarly to moose. Domestic forms tend to favor the former. Domestic and wild types can present a variety of coat colors ranging from dark chocolate brown to completely white (again, more common in domestic varieties). Reindeer are typically farmed like cattle, they are kept in large herds and grazed over vast expanses of tundra and are eaten for meat and milked and even ridden or used as pack animals.

Wild caribou animals are unique in that they face the longest and perhaps most arduous and difficult migration of any mammal species. These migrations can be more than one thousand miles and the largest herd recorded numbered more than half a million! Their hooves vary greatly for this reason, in spring and summer they are very soft and rubber like while in the winter they become hard and tough. Reindeer are the only species of deer to have fur on their noses to prevent frostbite! Females of this species can have antlers just as well as males, however this can vary by population. Reindeer survive on the sparse vegetation that their extreme climate offers.