Reindeer lichen in Dartmoor National Park, England

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Reindeer lichen in Dartmoor National Park, England

The slow-growing, cold-tolerant lichen is an important food source for reindeer. They’re the only large mammals able to digest it, so when grazing plants are scarce in winter, they have a plentiful supply of lichen to eat. This national park is, as the name implies, a vast moorland in southern England. Though it’s an ideal habitat for reindeer lichen, there are no reindeer in Dartmoor – unless the man with the sleigh makes a stopover there to let his team fuel up.