ABSTRACT
The concept of Rangifer “health” has been traditionally viewed primarily as a feature of individuals, although “herd” health is considered in semi-domesticated reindeer production. Extrinsic health determinants may include infectious and non-infectious agents, nutrition, habitat characteristics, climate and weather and sympatric species, as well as features such as population density and herd structure. In the field of human medicine, “health” has evolved past a concept focused only on the obvious effects of pathogens and disease in individuals. Rangifer unable to escape or inhabiting ecosystems significantly altered by human-caused climatic or ecological change may be forced to contend with persistently elevated allostatic loads. Reindeer and caribou must maintain the stability of essential physiological systems within a range optimal for their life history stage. Quantitative measurements of physiological stress in reindeer and caribou have traditionally relied on the determination of cortisol concentrations in blood.
