He’s one of Santa’s top helpers but did you know these things about Rudolph and his fellow reindeer?

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW RUDOLPH?

You can find reindeer in the arctic, the forests of Greenland, Scandinavia, Russia, Alaska, Canada and of course, Lapland where Santa lives! They are also found in North America, but there they are known as caribou!

Reindeer live for up to 15 years in the wild, domesticated ones can live up to 20 years.

Reindeer can grow up to 1.2 metres tall.

Reindeer herding is an ancient tradition in places like Russia, China, Mongolia and Scandinavia. Reindeer are farmed for their fur, milk, meat and antlers — which is used to create traditional tools.

Unlike other deer, both male and female reindeer grow antlers. Male reindeer can have antlers that are up to 1.4 metres long! The points are known as tines.

Male reindeer tend to lose their antlers in November, while female ones lose theirs later — so if you see Santa’s sleigh being pulled by reindeer that still have antlers, that means they are girls!

Reindeers start growing their first antlers at two years old. Once they start growing antlers, they will fall off and regrow every year.

A reindeer’s favourite food is lichen. It’s a type of fungi that can be found in open spaces on high ground.

Reindeer spend almost half their lives in snow! Because it snows so much where they live, they have evolved to help them survive including being good at swimming, having hollow fur and cloven hooves.

Rudolph isn’t the only reindeer with a red nose, reindeer have lots of veins in their noses which heats up the air as they breathe and keeps them nice and warm! It can also give their noses a little pinkish tinge!

Reindeer use their antlers to dig up the snow to find food.

The tribe that Anna and Elsa visit in the forest in Frozen II is based on a real tribe that use reindeer to transport goods through the snow.