Caribou and reindeer are very closely related. In fact a caribou and a reindeer are the same thing except that caribou are wild and reindeer are domestic. In Europe all caribou/reindeer are called reindeer, but in Alaska and Canada, they use the seperate names. Some think that all caribou and reindeer are the same species, but they aren't. There are seven different species of caribou/reindeer. There are:
1. Barrenground - Rangifer tarandus granti
2. Svalbard - Rt platyrnynchus
3. European - Rt tarandus
4. Finnish forest reindeer - Rt femicus
5. Greenland - Rt groenlanicus
6. Woodland - Rt caribou
7. Peary - Rt pearyi
Threre are over 1 million caribou in Alaska. The largest herd in Alaska is the Western Arctic herd (the herd thats attempting to take over my grandpas.) About half of the Alaskan caribou population is in that herd. Other big herds are the Porcupine and the Mulchanta herds. There are 28 other smaller herds from the North Slope to the Canadian border and northeast of Tok. There also some domestic herds on the Seward Peninsula, including my grandpas.