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Discussion » Questions » Animals (Wild) » Why are they reindeer when pulling a sleigh, and caribou when they are food?

Why are they reindeer when pulling a sleigh, and caribou when they are food?

Posted - December 21, 2018

Responses


  • 1633
    Probably for the same reason that, when it's a beast of burden, it's a cow but, when it's food, it's beef.
      December 21, 2018 10:53 AM MST
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  • 19942
    Aren't oxen considered beasts of burden?
      December 21, 2018 2:25 PM MST
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  • 1633
    Don't quote me on this but I think some oxen, when consumed, are also considered "beef".  I'm not a carnivorous meat consumer so I'm really not well versed on many of the cuts and kinds of meat.  All I can really be sure of are beef (cow and bull), pork, veal, venison and mutton.
      December 21, 2018 4:31 PM MST
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  • 19942
    Thanks.  I may look into this further because I've never heard of oxen (or bulls) being consumed, but I cold be wrong. :)

    PS -
    In Ethiopia, a cow or an ox is commonly butchered for the sole purpose of selling within the community. In special occasions, people have a cultural ceremony of slaughtering cow or ox and sharing among the group, called Kircha, which is a very common option of the people in rural area where access of meat is challenging frequently. This post was edited by SpunkySenior at December 21, 2018 8:58 PM MST
      December 21, 2018 8:10 PM MST
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  • 1633
    There is a similar "festival" in South Asia (particularly Bangladesh) called Eid Al-Adha where a cow is slaughtered as a sacrifice.  I have been told it can get so gruesome that the streets of Dhaka and other large cities can literally run red with blood.  I always make my plans deliberately to miss it during my visits.
      December 21, 2018 9:02 PM MST
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  • 19942
    I don't think that would be something I would want to witness either.
      December 22, 2018 12:05 AM MST
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  • 46117
    They are two different animals.

    What do you know?  I am actually wrong.  


    Reindeer and caribou are actually the same species, Rangifer tarandus, but there are substantial differences between the two. Caribou are large, wild, elk-like animals which can be found in northern North America and Greenland and have never been domesticated.


    Anyway, no animal should be eaten.  Times have changed.

    Time to do away with useless slaughter.  A cow needs acres of pasture just to breed a single one.  Those same acres can be filled with thousands of green and growing healthy plants that are better suited for consumption.  They don't cause cancer. They don't cause heart-attacks and they are much better for our environment.




    This post was edited by WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH at December 21, 2018 2:26 PM MST
      December 21, 2018 10:55 AM MST
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  • 19942
    Unless those field are watered with chemicals that have leached into the water, sprayed with pesticides or picked by people with filthy hands that spread e-coli and salmonella.
      December 21, 2018 2:27 PM MST
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  • 10449
    They call then "reindeer" when they're pulling a sleigh they have a rein hooking them up to the sleigh, dear.  And when they're food, they're called venison. 
      December 21, 2018 12:04 PM MST
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  • 22891
    not sure why
      December 21, 2018 1:57 PM MST
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  • 1305
    Because it's all to do with the stag god of the year...


    In answer to your question, I think Santa knows this too..

      December 21, 2018 5:36 PM MST
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  • 44175
    Oy...those pics are rather disturbing...maybe because I am drunk.
      December 21, 2018 5:41 PM MST
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  • 1305
    What's your poison?
      December 21, 2018 5:47 PM MST
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  • 44175
    Cheap Bourbon.
      December 21, 2018 5:50 PM MST
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  • 1305
    Well...it will do the trick!
      December 21, 2018 5:55 PM MST
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  • 44175
    How in the hell did this go from caribou to cheap whiskey? I love this place.
      December 21, 2018 5:58 PM MST
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  • 14795
    Because they can't tell their Ass from their Caribou....or maybe there was Rain Dear outside and the Stag's didn't want to get their Antlers wet and go limp......:( 
      December 21, 2018 6:12 PM MST
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