The caribou is a large deer (cervidae), an herbivorous animal that has antlers. Every year, it sheds these antlers, which grow back early the following summer.
Caribou can live from 12 to 15 years. They are calm animals that live in herds in the northern regions of Quebec. In spring and fall, the caribou migrate. They move from the boreal forest to the forest-tundra, and then to the Arctic tundra. Caribou swim quickly and easily.
Some of the caribou’s hairs are hollow, like a straw. The air in these hairs protects the animal from the cold and helps it float on water. In the winter, the fur thickens even more to protect the caribou from cold and wind.
Caribou eat lichen and many other kinds of plants, mushrooms, grasses and mosses. In the winter, they have to settle for tree bark, branches and whatever lichen they can find under the snow.
In the Mi’kmaq language, caribou are called xalibu, which means “the one who digs for food”. In the Innu language, they are called atiuk.