Caribou on the Slate Islands

• The weight of a female varies between 132 - 375 lb (60 and 170 kg).
• Caribou are ruminants, having a four-chambered stomach. They mainly eat lichens in winter. However, they also eat the leaves of willows and birches, as well as sedges and grasses.
• Mating occurs from late September or October to early November. Males battle for access to females. Two males will lock each other’s antlers together and try to push each other away.
• Under normal circumstances, both sexes grow antlers.  However on the Slate Islands, with no predators to contend with, female caribou have evolved so that they no longer grow antlers.
• Caribou do not compete for food sources with any other mammals on the Slate Islands, and they maintain their largest density on these islands than anywhere else on Earth.