🦌 Cervids
Also known as: deer, Cervidae
Reindeer and moose: the very rich milk of northern animals.
The deer family (Cervidae) is a family of ruminants that includes reindeer, moose, red deer and others. The reindeer is the only truly domesticated deer species; it is herded across northern Eurasia, from Scandinavia to the Far East. Moose are milked only on a handful of farms where the animals are tamed from a young age.
Deer milk is among the most concentrated of all hoofed animals. According to the FAO, reindeer and moose milk resembles cream: it can contain several times more fat than cow’s milk and 3–4 times more protein, while having almost half as much lactose. This composition helps the young grow fast and survive the cold winter.
Historically, peoples of the North drank and fermented reindeer milk, including the Sámi, among whom, according to the FAO, lactose intolerance is fairly common. Today reindeer are hardly milked, and products made from reindeer and moose milk are a culinary rarity. The best-known example is moose milk cheese made on a farm in Bjurholm in northern Sweden.
What it includes
How it connects to milk
🦌 Cervids ← kind of ← 🦌 Reindeer → gives → 🥛 Milk
Links
- Part of
- 🐄 Dairy animals
Frequently asked questions
Which deer are milked?
Mainly reindeer; moose are milked only on a few farms in the world.
Why is reindeer milk so fatty?
The calf has to gain weight quickly and survive the cold, so the milk is very concentrated in fat and protein.
Similar
🐐 Small ruminants · 🐪 Camels · 🐎 Equids · 🦙 Llamas and alpacas · 🐄 Cattle