Fact Sheets
What Do Caribou Eat — And Why Is It Important?
Nutrition is vitally important to all life processes. For ungulates such as caribou, inadequate nutrition can negatively impact growth, breeding, survival and susceptibility to disease and predation. In addition, individual animals have different nutritional requirements depending on factors such as age (e.g., calf versus adult), season (e.g., summer versus winter), and physiological state (e.g., adults nursing a calf versus adults without a calf). Generally, growing sub-adults and females with calves during summer have the highest nutritional demands and will be most strongly impacted by inadequate nutrition. Habitat management efforts should be directed at providing resources for these individuals.