Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Caribou Anatomy: cool interactive website

Caribou Anatomy:


About this project

Healthy caribou and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus spp.) are vital to communities and indigenous cultures throughout the Arctic. Many northerners continue to depend on caribou and reindeer for food and as a focus for cultural and economic activities. Wild caribou and reindeer are also keystone species in the circumpolar north and are critical for the maintenance of healthy northern ecosystems.

The Rangifer Anatomy Project (RAP) grew out of a need for better resources to enhance Rangifer health monitoring, to promote responsible hunting, and to facilitate knowledge exchange across generations among Rangifer users including northern community members, wildlife managers, scientists, and educators. RAP was initiated at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary in December 2007 and has since grown into a much larger collaboration in the Rangifer world.

The images and information that are provided here are a result of hundreds of hours of work of many dedicated individuals - from hunters and elders to scientists and IT specialists. The actual webpage development is the product of the hard work and dedication of a few people, but could never have happened without the acceptance, patience and cooperation of a great many. In particular we would like to thank the communities of Fort Good Hope and Lutsel'ke who welcomed us on their community hunts and tolerated our many unusual requests.