NYC – Bronx – Bronx Zoo – Reindeer

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NYC – Bronx – Bronx Zoo – Reindeer

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Hailing from Wisconsin, a group of eight reindeer took up temporary winter residence on Astor Court in the Bronx Zoo. The reindeer, known as caribou when wild in North America, is an Arctic and Subarctic-dwelling deer (Rangifer tarandus).

Reindeer live in small groups made up of one male and up to fifteen females. The Zoo’s herd is all female. Reindeer are the only species of deer in which both sexes have antlers. These antlers are shed annually, and regrow under a layer of fur called velvet.

Reindeer are ruminants, having a four-chambered stomach. They mainly eat lichens in winter, especially reindeer moss. They have specialized noses featuring nasal turbinate bones that dramatically increase the surface area within the nostrils. Incoming cold air is warmed by the animal’s body heat before entering the lungs, and water is condensed from the expired air and captured before the deer’s breath is exhaled, used to moisten dry incoming air and possibly absorbed into the blood through the mucous membranes. Reindeer hooves adapt to the season: in the summer, when the tundra is soft and wet, the footpads become spongy and provide extra traction. In the winter, the pads shrink and tighten, exposing the rim of the hoof which cuts into the ice and crusted snow to keep the animal from slipping. The reindeer coat has two layers of fur, a dense woolly undercoat and longer-haired overcoat consisting of hollow, air-filled hairs. A caribou or reindeer swims easily and fast; migrating herds will not hesitate to swim across a large lake or broad river.

Reindeer are particularly associated with Christmas, pulling Santa Claus’ sleigh. These were first named in the 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, where they are called Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem. Dunder was later changed to Donder and in other works Donner, and Blixem was later changed to Blitzen. Some consider Rudolph as part of the group as well, though he was not part of the original named work referenced previously, and did not join the sleigh team until Santa rightly recognized the traffic benefits of his luminescent nose. Rudolph’s ascendence to the sleigh team is recounted in the classic tale, "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

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The Bronx Zoo, located within the Bronx Park, is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, comprising 265 acres of parklands and naturalistic habitats and home to over 4,000 animals. Focused on conservation, it opened on November 8, 1899, with 22 exhibits, 843 animals. The zoo’s origins date back to 1895, with the establishment of the New York Zoological Society (NYZS), renamed Wild Conservation Society (WCS) in 1993. Only the outer structure of the World of Reptiles remains much as it was in 1899. With the 1941 opening of African Plains, the Bronx Zoo was one of the first U.S. zoos to move away from cages and exhibit animals in naturalistic habitats.

the haircut.

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oooh my hair dresser didn’t listen when I said "keep the length"…back to regrowing.
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