Natural History of the Musk Ox
Ice Age Survivors
The musk ox, Ovibos moschatus, is an ancient species of arctic mammal currently found in remote areas of the far north, including Greenland, Alaska, Canada and Siberia. During the Pleistocene, musk oxen wandered across the Bering Land Bridge to populate North America with the likes of the woolly mammoth, saber-toothed cat, and giant ground sloth. Fossil records indicate musk oxen ranged across Europe, Asia and North America during the last Ice Age, roaming as far south as France and Ohio. They lived both in Arctic regions that were not glaciated as well as more southerly regions beyond the ice sheets. At the end of the Ice Age, they died off in more southerly regions but persisted in the north.
The largest wild populations of musk oxen can be found in Canada, especially on Banks and Victoria Islands, Northwest Territory.
Musk ox were extinct within Alaska by the late 1800's and were reintroduced from wild herds in eastern Greenland in the 1930's by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Although it is sometimes claimed that their die-off was caused by hunting, research suggests it was more likely due to fluctuations in the climate at the southern extreme of their range. Native Alaskans did hunt the muskoxen prior to their disappearance, but the number of people was small enough that their hunting alone could not have been enough to extirpate musk oxen, and their numbers declined during that period throughout their range even in areas where there was no hunting.
Once in danger of disappearing completely, musk ox populations have made a dramatic comeback with a current worldwide population of about 150,000 animals.
Classification
Despite their common name, musk ox have no musk glands and are not oxen. Although they may resemble small bison, musk ox are more closely related to goats and sheep. This arctic ungulate, like domestic cattle, has a four-chambered stomach and eats a wide variety of foods such as lichens, grasses, and leaves. It was long believed that their closest relative was the golden-fleeced takin which lives in China, India, Bhutan and possibly Myanmar. Recent genetic research indicates that this is not actually the case, and that their closest relative could be either the Asian goral or North American mountain goat.
  |
|
It has long been believed that there are two subspecies of musk ox: Ovibos moschatus moschatus (Barren Ground musk ox) and O. moschatus wardi (Greenland or 'white face' musk ox). Recent studies have shown that there is little to no genetic difference between the two, and they are more likely geographic variants. An adult Barren Ground bull stands about six feet tall at the shoulder and weighs up to 1000 lbs. The smaller Greenland musk ox bull stands four and a half to five feet tall at the shoulder and weighs up to 800 lbs. The herd at the Musk Ox Farm is descended from wild animals originating both in Canada and Greenland.
