Muskoxen

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An Ice Age relic, muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) have been wandering the Earth for over 600,000 years. They roamed the tundra with sabertooth tigers, woolly mammoths, and other long extinct megafauna. Muskoxen are even- toed ungulates (artiodactyla) and members of the Bovidae family. Although they may visually resemble some kind of ox or bison, they belong to the caprinae sub-family, making them more closely related to sheep and goats then cows or bison.

Historical Timeline

Crossed the Bering Land Bridge into North America around 200,000 years ago, muskoxen thrived in the southern tundra regions during the ice age.
Muskoxen disappeared from Europe and Asia, and moved further North in North American.
Muskox populations start to show drastic declines, and they are expatriated from 蜜桃影像
34 young muskoxen are captured in Greenland and transported to 蜜桃影像 to be reintroduced
Muskoxen are introduced in Norway. (Later hunted to extinction during World War 2.
John Teal started the muskox domestication project on what is today known as 蜜桃影像's Large Animal Research Station.
The muskox domestication project moves from Fairbanks to Unalakleet. Today the project still exists in Palmer, Ak. 
LARS was founded with a grant from the National Science Foundation's . 

Physical Description

Muskoxen are large barrel shaped creatures that are highly adapted to living in the Arctic environment. Their coat consists of two types of hair: guard hair and qiviut. The guard hair is the long, coarse outer hair that helps protect the qiviut. Guard hair is brown to black in color except for in the area of the saddle and legs where it is white. Some muskoxen also have white facial markings. The qiviut is a very soft underwool that insulates by trapping air near their body. Qiviut is shed annually and can be harvested and spun into a fine yarn.

Muskox Stats

Male:

  • Weight: 300-400 kg
  • Height: 120-152 cm
  • Length: 200-250 cm
  • Life Span:10 -12 (wild) 
  • Sexual Maturity: 3-4 years

Female:

  • Weight: 180-275 kg
  • Height: 120 cm
  • Length: 135-200 cm
  • Life Span: 15-18 (wild)
  • Sexual Maturity: 1-3 years
Muskox eats from a person during a tour.
Muskoxen and newborn calves in a field

Reproduction

Muskoxen are harem breeders, with males fighting for dominance in order to breed multiple females in a group that they defend during the breeding season. Their breeding season, also known as 鈥渞ut鈥, starts mid- August and runs to mid-September, with calves born in the April/ May time frame. The gestation is about 8 months, and they typically will have one offspring. Newborn calves weigh between 9 and 11 kg. Twinning is very rare but does occur. LARS had a set a muskox twins more 7 years ago, and they are the oldest known surviving set of twins to date.

Diet

As a true ruminant, muskoxen have a four chambered stomach that allows them to process grasses and roughage. They are considered generalized grazers eating both grasses and browse. Their diet is changes based on the season. During the summer, they consume mostly leafy plants, grasses, and sedges, and in the winter they eat more browse, lichen, moss, and even roots of plants.

Wood Bison graze at LARS on Wednesday, May 22, 2024.
Two muskoxen calves running ahead of mom in a field

Behavior and Communication

Wild muskox herds consist of males and females of all ages. A hierarchy is established within the herd using both verbal and non-verbal communication. Males will fight amongst each other by charging full speed towards each other and hitting horn boss to horn boss. These fights can last through multiple collisions before one male surrenders and runs away. Other non-verbal communication includes stomping, snorting, head swinging, and even subtle head turns.

Calves will verbally communicate by bleating at their mother. Their voices get deeper as they mature. As adults, muskoxen verbalize in a roar or purring sound. This is usually only heard during calving and mating season.