One of the most spectacular sights in all of nature is the massing together of thousands of caribou on the tundra as they surge from one area to another, feeding on sedge leaves and flowering plants. Lavishly illustrated with some of the best photographs of caribou in the world, The Nature of Caribou explores the dynamics of these gigantic aggregations, along with many other aspects of caribou's lives.

After describing the various subspecies of caribou, found in the northern latitudes of North America, Europe and Asia, caribou expert H. John Russell takes us through a year in the lives of the barren-ground caribou. With their two specialized types of hair and fur muzzles, barren-ground caribou are exquisitely adapted to the formidable cold of the northern winter. In the spring comes the great stirring when the caribou decide it is time to migrate north to the open tundra. After they have arrived, the females give birth. As summer deepens, the caribou begin to amass in huge groups, speeding over the tundra from one feeding area to another. Autumn brings the rut; males spar with each other, chase females, find mates and breed. At the end of the rut, the males drop their magnificent antlers and all the caribou move towards their winter range.

Russell also discusses humans' relationship with caribou. Aboriginal people in the North have developed cultures around the caribou, hunting them for food, making clothing out off their hides, carving sculptures out of their antlers and featuring caribou in myths and legends. After the gun was introduced in North America, the numbers of caribou drastically declined. Today these numbers have increased to their former levels or higher. The challenge now is to prevent caribou habitat from being developed and destroyed.

Throughout the book, superb photographs show bulls sparring or displaying their lofty crown, calves with their mothers, and huge herds sweeping across the tundra or swimming across frigid lakes. Other photographs depict the caribou in Inuit art, as well as boots and other clothing made of caribou hide. Together, text and photographs provide a rich celebration of this hardy yet elegant creature.

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