Thoughts of Christmas will soon be invading many children’s dreams, but it’s a natural Christmas and Halloween mashup that’s got some zoo visitors worried about a herd of reindeer. However, zoo officials said that what looks like a bloody mess is actually normal.
Sven, one of the male reindeer at the Columbus Zoo, is shedding his velvet antler covering.
Zoo officials posted to Facebook that it is nothing to be worried about, despite what it looks like. they said that it happens every year and back up their post with science.
They go on to explain that antlers are made of bone and need blood supply to grow, that’s where the velvet comes in, but since the reindeer shed their antlers every year, males before Christmas, females after, the antlers become hard before they lose them and don’t need the velvet to supply the antlers with blood and nutrients.
They start rubbing off the velvet, prior to dropping their racks, leaving behind what looks like a bloody velvet mess.
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