caribou

Dictionary: car·i·bou (kăr'ə-bū') pronunciation

n., pl., caribou, or -bous.
Any of several large reindeer native to northern North America.

[Micmac galipu (influenced by Canadian French caribou , also from Micmac), from Proto-Algonquin *mekālixpowa : *mekāl-, to scrape + *-ixpo-, snow.]

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: caribou

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Arctic deer (Rangifer tarandus) of the tundra, taiga, and forests, native to North America and northern Eurasia from Scandinavia to eastern Siberia. Both sexes have antlers. Caribou stand 2.3 – 4.6 ft (0.7 – 1.4 m) tall at the shoulder and weigh up to 660 lbs (300 kg); domesticated races are about the size of donkeys. They are usually grayish or brownish with lighter underparts but may be whitish or nearly black. Their herds are famous for their seasonal migration between summer and winter ranges. Their staple winter food is a lichen, popularly called reindeer moss, which they reach by scraping the snow away with their feet. In summer they also eat grasses and saplings. See also reindeer.

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Food Lover's Companion: caribou

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[Kehr-uh-boo] see game animals

Archaeology Dictionary: caribou

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[Sp]

North American reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) grouped into two subspecies, the barren ground caribou and woodland caribou. The former is only found in Arctic parts of North America and has long, slightly curved antlers. The woodland caribou roams the forest districts of Canada and has shorter, branched antlers. The caribou has never been domesticated, although it has been hunted continuously since Palaeo-Indian times and many communities have subsisted almost exclusively from it.

Columbia Encyclopedia: caribou

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caribou, name in North America for the genus (Rangifer) of deer from which the Old World reindeer was originally domesticated. Caribou are found in arctic and subarctic regions. They are the only deer in which both sexes have antlers. The broad hooves support the animal (males may weigh over 300 lb/130 kg) on boggy land or snow and have sharp edges that enable it to traverse rocky or frozen surfaces and to dig down to the grass and lichens on which it sometimes feeds. In North America there are several subspecies but two main types: the woodland caribou of the bogs and coniferous forests from Newfoundland to British Columbia, with palmate antlers up to 4 ft (120 cm) wide; and the barren-ground caribou of the tundra of Alaska, N Canada, and Greenland, which has many-branched, slender antlers and which may undertake mass migrations in search of food. Caribou are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Artiodactyla, family Cervidae.

Veterinary Dictionary: caribou

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Rangifer tarandus caribou (called also Rangifer arcticus). See reindeer.

Translations: Caribou

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - nordamerikansk rensdyr

Nederlands (Dutch)
kariboe

Français (French)
n. - caribou, élan d'Amérique

Deutsch (German)
n. - (zo.) Karibu

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ζωολ.) καριμπού (αμερικανικός τάρανδος)

Italiano (Italian)
caribù

Português (Portuguese)
n. - caribu (m) (Zool.)

Русский (Russian)
канадский олень

Español (Spanish)
n. - caribú, reno

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - karibu

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
北美产驯鹿

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 北美產馴鹿

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 순록

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - カリブー

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) أيل كبير‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮קריבו, אייל צפון אמריקני‬

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	carriboo
	woodland caribou
	akutok

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		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Food Lover's Companion. Food Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2001 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Archaeology Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Copyright © 2002, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more
		Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more
		Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved. Read more
		Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more