The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), also known as the caribou when wild in North America, is an Arctic and Subarctic-dwelling deer, widespread and numerous across the northern Holarctic.
The reindeer is widespread and numerous in the northern Holarctic. Originally it was found in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Russia, Mongolia, and northern China north of the 50th latitude. In North America it was found in Alaska, Canada, and the northern U.S. States from Washington to Maine. In the 19th century, it was apparently still present in southern Idaho. It also occurred naturally on Sakhalin, Greenland, and probably even in historical time in Scotland and Ireland. During the late Pleistocene, reindeer were found as far south as Nevada and Tennessee in North America and Spain in Europe. Today, wild reindeer have disappeared from many areas within this large historical range, especially from the southern parts where it vanished almost everywhere. Large populations of wild reindeer are still found in Siberia, Greenland, Alaska, and Canada. Domesticated reindeer are mostly found in northern Scandinavia, Russia, and Iceland (where they were introduced by humans in the 18th century). The last wild reindeer in Europe are found in portions of southern Norway.The southern boundary of the species' natural range is approximately at 62° north latitude.
