What is "caribou"

Caribou \Car"i*bou\ (k[a^]r"[i^]*b[=oo]), n. [Canadian French.] (Zo["o]l.) The American reindeer, especially the common or woodland species ( Rangifer Caribou).

Barren Ground caribou. See under Barren.

Woodland caribou, the common reindeer ( Rangifer Caribou) of the northern forests of America.

also cariboo, 1660s, from Canadian French caribou, from Micmac (Algonquian) kaleboo or a related Algonquian name, literally "pawer, scratcher," from its kicking snow aside to feed on moss and grass.

n. Any of several North American subspecies of the reindeer, ''Rangifer tarandus''.

n. arctic deer with large antlers in both sexes; called reindeer in Eurasia and caribou in North America [syn: reindeer, Greenland caribou, Rangifer tarandus]

Caribou, the 1974 album by Elton John, was his fourth chart-topping album in the United States and his third in the United Kingdom. It was the eighth official album release for John. The album contains the singles, " Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", which reached number 16 in the UK Singles Chart and number 2 in the US, and " The Bitch Is Back", which reached number 15 in the UK and number 4 in the US. Both these singles reached number 1 in Canada on the RPM 100 national Top Singles Chart (as did the album itself). In the US the album was certified gold in July 1974 and was certified platinum and 2x platinum in March 1993 by the RIAA. The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the 17th Annual Grammy Awards.

Caribou can refer to:

The Caribou, colloquially referred to as The Newfie Bullet, was a passenger train operated by Canadian National Railways (CNR) on the island of Newfoundland.

Caribou is a sweet Québécois alcoholic beverage composed of red wine, hard liquor (usually whisky), and maple syrup or sugar.

Caribou can be made at home but is now available as a premixed beverage by the Société des alcools du Québec. It can be consumed hot or cold depending on the weather and served with citrus and cinnamon in the manner of mulled wine. Cloves and nutmeg are also commonly added to flavour the drink. The beverage has numerous variations but it is usually made by mixing:

• Red wine or port
• ''Hard liquor ''(usually white) generally whisky but can also be brandy or rum

These two are usually combine with a proportion of 75% to 25%, respectively, and sweetened with maple syrup or sugar as desired.

The drink has been traditionally served at the Quebec Winter Carnival, where it is carried around by carnival goers in hollow plastic walking canes or available at outdoor bars at the event. More recently it is now served in celebration on the National holiday of Quebec. It is also a staple of the Festival du Voyageur in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where it is sometimes served in glasses made out of ice.

A Caribou (North America) (Rangifer tarandus caribou, and other trinomials under Rangifer t.) is any of several North American subspecies, ecotypes, populations, and herds of the species Rangifer tarandus. In North America caribou vary in size from the smallest, the Peary caribou, to the largest, the boreal woodland caribou. The North American range of caribou extends from Alaska, through the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, into the boreal forest and south through the Canadian Rockies and the Columbia and Selkirk Mountains. Barren-ground, porcupine caribou and Peary caribou live in the tundra, while the shy woodland caribou, prefers the boreal forest. Two major subspecies in North America, the porcupine caribou and the barren-ground caribou form large herds and undertake lengthy seasonal migrations from birthing grounds, to summer and winter feeding grounds in the tundra and taiga. The migrations of porcupine caribou herds are among the longest of any terrestrial mammal. Barren-land caribou are also found in Kitaa in Greenland, but the larger herds are in Alaska, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.

The circumpolar species itself, Rangifer tarandus, at a global level, is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN) "as Least Concern due to a wide circumpolar distribution and presumed large populations." The populations of subspecies, ecotypes, populations and herds of caribou in North America are in decline and one subspecies, the iconic boreal woodland caribou, has been listed by COSEWIC as threatened since 2002.

The George River caribou herd (GRCH), in the Ungava Peninsula of Quebec and Labrador in eastern Canada was once the world's largest herd with 800,000–900,000 animals. By 2012 the herd numbered 27,600 and declined to 14,200 animals in 2014.

The meta-population of the more-sedentary subspecies R. t. caribou, or woodland caribou, spans the boreal forest of Canada from the Northwest Territories to Labrador. They are shy animals whose main food source is arboreal lichens of the mature forests and mainly live in marshes, bogs, lakes, and river regions. Since it takes hundreds of years for a biomass of tree lichen to be adequate to sustain boreal woodland caribou populations, deforestation has been a major factor in the decline of their numbers. The historic range of the boreal woodland caribou covered over half of present-day Canada, stretching from Alaska to Newfoundland and Labrador and as far south as New England, Idaho, and Washington. The smallest subspecies in North America, the Peary caribou is found in the High and Low Arctic, in the Northwest Territories (particularly, Banks Island) and in Nunavut (mainly Baffin Island).

The caribou is a specialist that is well adapted to cooler climates, with hollow-hair fur that covers almost all of its body including its nose, and provides insulation in winter and flotation for swimming. Caribou can reach a speed of . Young caribou can already outrun an Olympic sprinter when only a day old. The caribou's favourite winter food is fruticose deer lichen. Seventy percent of the diet of woodland caribou consists of arboreal lichen which take hundreds of years to grow and are therefore only found in mature forests.

Although there are many variations in colour and size, Canadian Geographic magazine states that in general, barren-ground caribou have larger antlers than the woodland caribou subspecies. Barren-ground caribou have large distinguishing white patches of fur that extend beyond the neck onto the back, a white muzzle and a face that is darker than the rest of the body. Their fur is sandy-beige in winter and light brown in summer. The woodland caribou have a wider more compact body and wider antlers. The coat is a rich dark brown in summer and dark grey in winter. Both the barren-ground and woodland caribou often have white "socks" above their hooves. On average the male weighs and measures in shoulder height. The woodland caribou are the largest, and the Peary caribou are the smallest. The largest Alaskan male Porcupine caribou can weigh as much as .

Female caribou can live up to 17 years, and male caribou live about 13 years.

Both sexes grow antlers, though in some woodland caribou populations, the females lack antlers completely. Antlers are larger in males.

Caribou are an integral part of First Nations and Inuit oral histories and legends including the Gwich'in creation story of how Gwich’in people and the caribou separated from a single entity.