This noble beast's name originates from the Norse word, "Hreinn" meaning deer, however in North America they're known as Caribou.

They migrate over 3000 miles in the course of a year which beats any other land mammal hands down and have been herded by Arctic and Subartic tribes for centuries.

Mostly thought of as a tundra species, they lived as far down south as Idaho in America during the latter part of the 19th century so can acclimatise to warmer climates.

Both sexes grow antlers and both have expandable hooves which swell in warmer weather but shrink in winter to accommodate hard, frozen ground.

Even their noses are adapted to cope with ice cold air, their nostrils warm it up before it reaches their lungs.

Their main predator is the Golden eagle which claims many a calf in late Spring but climate change, oil drilling and humans have threatened the species more than ever before.

Now for the Santa bit......

Written by Clement Clarke Moore in New York in 1822, we all know the poem, "The Night Before Christmas". Within which, Santa's mode of transportation was first mentioned - the reindeer driven sleigh but how did this image become a global meme?

Enter the mid-1800's, commercial overfishing of whales was out of control and the Inuit people were literally starving as a result.

Alaskan missionary, Sheldon Jackson, desperate to find an alternative food source for them successfully lobbied the US government to secure funds for a  transfer of reindeer stock to Alaska via Siberia.

Accompanied by expert herders, the Sami, in 1898 over 600 reindeer alongside 100 herders and their families made the difficult journey from Norway to Alaska to introduce reindeer herding to America.

Thankfully they flourished and captured the inventive imagination of businessman Carl Lomen.

This crafty Minnesotan saw the potential in mass-market reindeer meat consumption to rival the beef industry and aggressively promoted this idea.

In 1926 alongside Macy's department store, he conceived a promotional spectular -  a Christmas parade with traditionally dressed Sami herders and a sleigh led by Santa and his reindeer.

These became so popular that cities across America held similar parades. Some say that Lomen went so far as to send made-up children's letter to local newspapers to encourage these local festivities.

Known as the "Reindeer King", he once owned more that a quarter of a million animals but eventually went bust mainly due to the cattle lobby  and ownership rights to the herds but this keen marketing marvel's vision of Santa and his reindeer became a global staple - even elaborated on! The most famous reindeer of all, Rudolph was actually based on a character in a 1939 coloring-in book distributed by department store, Montgomery-Ward

So the next time you see Santa and his sleigh flying through the skies, think of Sheldon Jackson, the fella that introduced the beautiful creatures to America.