A Multipurpose Animal

CAN you think of an animal that can be used for transportation, food, clothing, shelter, tools, and decoration? Certainly the arctic reindeer fits the description.

From time immemorial this stockily built animal​—standing as much as four and a half feet (1.4 m) at the shoulder—​has been one of the most valuable resources in the Arctic region of Europe. It has provided the Lapps with almost all their material necessities.

The agile and large-hoofed reindeer can pull a heavily loaded sledge at 12 to 15 miles per hour (20 to 25 km/​hr) over cold, snowy wasteland. It can easily swim across lakes and rivers and readily finds its way through a snowstorm. In Siberia it has even been used for riding.

Reindeer milk is four times richer in butter fat than is cow’s milk. A few drops can turn a cup of coffee white. The Lapps usually either jerk (sun dry) or smoke the animal’s strongly flavored meat. They make clothing, shoes, bedding, and tents of its soft hide. They use its hair for mattresses, its sinews for thread, its intestines and six stomachs for food containers, and its bones and antlers for tools, buttons, and ornaments. A vest of its fur makes a good life jacket, since reindeer hair is hollow and filled with air.

Almost every part of this creature can be utilized. You can hardly think of a more useful animal.