Smallest reindeer subspecies

The smallest reindeer is the Svalbard reindeer Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus, native to Norway's Svalbard islands (formerly Spitsbergen). Adult males are around 160 cm long and weigh 65–90 kg on average (increasing from spring to autumn), adult females 150 cm and 53–70 kg (ditto). By comparison, adult males of other reindeer subspecies weigh 159–182 kg; adult females 80–120 kg. It is quite short-legged, relatively small-headed, and pale in coat colouration, especially during the winter.

This distinctive reindeer subspecies has inhabited the Svalbard archipelago for at least 5,000 years, and occurs in virtually all of its non-glaciated expanses, being well-adapted for survival in these islands' infamously harsh environment.