Animals With Antlers List (8 Common Animals With Antlers)

Examples of animals with antlers include caribou, moose, deer, and elk. There are many subspecies of these animals, most of them with antlers.

Whether you’re out in the wild or just strolling through your local zoo, you may have come across an animal with antlers.

Antlers are a unique and interesting feature of animals, and there are many different types of creatures that grow them.

In this blog post, we’ll take a look at some of the most common antlered animals, as well as provide information on their antlers.

We’ll also discuss how antlers grow and what purpose they serve for these animals.

List of Animals with Antlers

Antlers are one of the most distinctive features of members of the deer family. While all members of the deer family have antlers, not all animals with antlers are deer.

Animal	Habitat
Caribou	Cold northern environments
Moose	Cold northern environments
White-Tailed Deer	Forrests, fields, wetlands
Black-Tailed Deer	West coast of North America
Rocky Mountain Elk	Rocky mountains of North America
Roosevelt Elk	Coastal mountains of North America
Manitoban Elk	Canadian provinces in Manitoba
Tule Elk	California

1. Caribou

Scientific Name	Rangifer Tarandus
Common Name	Caribou
Animal Class	Mammalia
Diet	Leaves of willows, mushrooms, flowering tundra plants, sedges
Habitat	Arctic tundra, mountain tundra, northern forests of North America, Russia, Scandinavia
Antler Size	Up to 50 inches

Caribou are the only member of the deer family, which includes elk, moose, and white-tailed deer, in which both sexes grow antlers. Caribou live in cold northern environments and typically have a light-colored coat.^[1]

Male caribou are larger than females and can weigh up to 350 pounds (159 kilograms). These animals are also known as reindeer, especially when domesticated. Both caribou and reindeer are in the same species: Rangifer tarandus.

2. Moose

Scientific Name	Alces Alces
Common Name	Moose
Animal Class	Mammalia
Diet	Leaves, barks, twigs from trees and shrubs
Habitat	Northern regions of the United States
Antler Size	Up to 72 inches

Moose are the largest member of the deer family. A bull moose can weigh up to 1,800 pounds (816 kilograms) and a cow moose can weigh up to 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms).

They are distinguished by their long faces and large antlers. Moose live in cold northern environments such as Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia, and Russia.

3. White-Tailed Deer

Scientific Name	Odocoileus Virginianus
Common Name	White-tailed deer
Animal Class	Mammalia
Diet	Leaves, twigs, fruits, nuts, grass, corn, alfalfa
Habitat	Mixture of hardwoods, croplands, meadows, and bushy areas
Antler Size	Up to 25 inches

White-tailed deer are the most common member of the deer family in North America. White-tailed deer can weigh up to 300 pounds (136 kilograms).

Male white-tailed deer grow antlers each year and shed them in the winter. Female white-tailed deer do not grow antlers. White-tailed deer live in a variety of habitats including forests, fields, and wetlands.

4. Black-Tailed Deer

Scientific Name	Odocoileus Hemionus Columbianus
Common Name	Black-tailed Deer
Animal Class	Mammalia
Diet	Grasses, fir, willow, Douglas-fir
Habitat	Coastal forests stretching from northern California to Alaska
Antler Size	Up to 54 inches

Black-tailed deer are a subspecies of white-tailed deer. They are smaller than white-tailed deer and can weigh up to 330 pounds (150 kg).

Male black-tailed deer grow antlers each year and shed them in the winter^[2].Female black-tailed deer do not grow antlers.

This antlered animal lives in forests on the west coast of North America from California to Alaska.

5. Rocky Mountain Elk

Scientific Name	Cervus Canadensis Nelsoni
Common Name	Rocky Mountain Elk
Animal Class	Mammalia
Diet	serviceberry, willow, bit-terbush, snowberry, mountain mahogany, winterfat, aspen shoots
Habitat	upland forests and praries
Antler Size	Up to 78 inches

Rocky Mountain elk are a subspecies of elk that live in the Rocky Mountains of North America. Rocky Mountain elk are the largest subspecies of elk and can weigh up to 1,000 pounds (453 kilograms).

Male Rocky Mountain elk grow antlers each year and shed them in the winter. Female Rocky Mountain elk do not grow antlers.

6. Roosevelt Elk

Scientific Name	Cervus Canadensis Roosevelti
Common Name	Roosevelt Elk
Animal Class	Mammalia
Diet	Ferns, shrubs, linchens, meadow grasses
Habitat	Western slopes of the coastal and cascade range from northern California up to southern British Columbia
Antler Size	Up to 50 inches

Roosevelt elk are a subspecies of elk that live in the coastal mountains of North America from California to Alaska. Roosevelt elk are the second largest subspecies of elk and can weigh up to 1,000 pounds (453 kilograms).^[3]

Male Roosevelt elk grow antlers each year and shed them in the winter. Female Roosevelt elk do not grow antlers.

7. Manitoban Elk

Scientific Name	Cervus Canadensis Manitobensis
Common Name	Manitoban Elk
Animal Class	Mammalia
Diet	Green and dried grasses, forbs, woody plants
Habitat	Northern boreal forests, aspen parkland, grassland, bur oak savanna, private agricultural lands
Antler Size	Up to 65 inches (est.)

The Manitoban elk is a subspecies of elk that live in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Manitoban elk are the third-largest subspecies of elk and can weigh up to 700 pounds (318 kilograms).

Male Manitoban elk grow antlers each year and shed them in the winter. Female Manitoban elk do not grow antlers.

8. Tule Elk

Scientific Name	Cervus Canadensis Nannodes
Common Name	Tule Elk
Animal Class	Mammalia
Diet	Grasses, herbs, woody shrubs, trees
Habitat	California and North America
Antler Size	Up to 47 inches

Tule elk are the smallest subspecies of elk and live in California. Tule elk can weigh up to 400 pounds (181 kilograms). Male Tule elk grow antlers each year and shed them in the winter. Female Tule elk do not grow antlers.

Animal With the Largest Antlers

Moose have the largest antlers of all antlered animals. Male Moose can grow antlers up to 12 feet wide and 6 feet long. Their antlers can weigh more than 60 pounds.

Animal With Long Antlers

The animal with long antlers is a caribou. Caribou are native to North America and Europe. They are the only member of the deer family that can grow antlers on both male and female caribou.

Male caribou can grow up to six feet long and weigh up to 700 pounds. Female caribou are smaller, but can still grow up to four feet long and weigh up to 400 pounds.

The population of caribou has declined in recent years due to hunting and habitat loss. Caribou are hunted for their meat and antlers. Habitat loss is a result of human activity, such as logging and oil drilling. Conservation efforts are underway to help protect caribou populations.

Animals That Shed Antlers

Both elk, caribou, moose, deer, and reindeer shed their antlers each year. They primarily do this because they get too heavy. Their antlers keep growing and eventually do more harm than good.

Deer

Deer are the most commonly known animals to shed their antlers. The males of most deer species will grow a new set of antlers every single year. They will then shed their old antlers in the late winter or early spring. The new set of antlers will usually be fully grown by the fall.

The main reason that deer shed their antlers is that they are constantly growing. As the antlers grow, they put a lot of strain on the deer’s skull. This can actually cause the deer’s skull to crack if the antlers are not shed.

The antlers first start to grow in the spring and continue to grow throughout the summer. Once the breeding season is over, the antlers will be shed. The shedding process begins at the base of the antlers and works its way up.

It usually takes around two weeks for a buck to completely shed his antlers.

Elk

Elk are another type of animal that regularly sheds their antlers. The males grow a new set of antlers every year and shed their old ones in the late winter or early spring, just like deer. The females of the elk species do not shed their antlers.

The main reason that elk shed their antlers is for the same reason as deer; to avoid putting too much strain on their skulls.

Caribou

Both male and female caribou grow and shed their antlers every year. The main reason for this is because caribou use their antlers to help them dig through the snow in search of food. They need to be able to shed their antlers so that they can regrow them to the appropriate size for the next season.

Moose

Moose are the largest member of the deer family. Both male and female moose will grow and shed their antlers every year.

They do so because their antlers can get quite heavy, which can cause strain on the moose’s neck. Moose will also shed their antlers if they get caught on something while they are running or swimming.

Reindeer

Reindeer also shed their antlers every year. Both male and female reindeer do so. The main reason for this is that the antlers can get quite heavy, which can cause strain on the reindeer’s neck.

Reindeer also shed their antlers if they get caught on something while they are running or swimming.

The Most Common Animal with Antlers

The most common animal with antlers is the deer. Antlers are found on most adult bucks (male deer) and some doe (female deer).

The main function of antlers for male deer is to use them as weapons during the rut, or breeding season, in order to assert dominance over other males and attract mates. Bucks also use their antlers to protect themselves from predators.

The antlers of a deer grow incredibly fast; in fact, they are one of the fastest-growing tissues in the animal kingdom. A buck can grow a new set of antlers every year.

The Least Common Animal with Antlers

The least common animal with antlers is the Mouse Deer. The scientific name for this creature is Tragulus Javanicus and it is a small hoofed mammal that is found in the forests of Southeast Asia.

It is the smallest member of the deer family and is about the size of a rabbit. The Mouse Deer is a fawn-colored creature with a white underbelly and has large eyes which help it see in the dark. It is a shy creature that is most active at night.

The Mouse Deer is a herbivore and feeds on leaves, grass, and fruit. It is a timid creature that is often preyed upon by tigers, leopards, and pythons.

The Mouse Deer is native to the forests of Southeast Asia and is found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is an endangered species due to habitat loss and hunting.