ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the importance of nutrition and adaptation to the seasonally changing availability and quality of reindeer and caribou diets, and the subsequent importance this may have for Rangifer health and performance. In order to support nutritional needs for survival and reproduction, reindeer and caribou use a set of foraging strategies at different scales. Forest/woodland and high arctic Rangifer types, as well as some of the tundra-type herds, are more sedentary, although they also perform relocations and select habitat in relation to season. Reindeer and caribou can be plagued by a range of external and internal parasites. Starvation is a relatively customary cause of death in Rangifer during severe winters, despite the fact that the species is adapted to large seasonal variation in nutrient intake. Rangifer females typically produce one offspring every year. Nevertheless, there are regions where female lifetime reproduction is very high and twins seem to be more common.
