The muskox (Ovibos moschatus) is an Arctic mammal of the Bovidae family, noted for its thick coat and for the strong odor emitted by males, from which its name derives. This musky odor is used to attract females during mating season. Muskoxen live primarily in Arctic North America, with small reintroduced populations in Sweden, Siberia and Norway. As members of the subfamily Caprinae of the family Bovidae, muskoxen are more closely related to sheep and goats than to oxen, but are in their own genus, Ovibos. Both sexes have long curved hornsTheir coat, a mix of black, gray, and brown, includes long guard hairs that almost reach the ground. Rare "white muskox" have been spotted in the Queen Maud Gulf Bird Sanctuary.Muskoxen can be domesticated and yield excellent meat, milk and wool. The wool, qiviut, is highly prized for its softness, length, and insulation value. Prices for yarn range between $40 and $80 per ounce (28 g).
Ten Facts about Muskox
- Muskoxen stand 1.2 m (3 ft 11.2 in) high at the shoulder on average, with females measuring 135 to 200 cm (53.1 to 78.7 in) in length, and males 200 to 250 cm (78.7 to 98.4 in).
- Adults, on average, weigh 285 kg (628 lb) and range from 180 to 400 kg (397 to 882 lb).
- Muskoxen are social and live in herds, usually of around 10-20 animals, but sometimes over 70.
- Females are sexually mature at two years of age, and males reach sexual maturity after five years.
- The gestation period is eight or nine months. Almost all pregnancies yield single calves. The young nurse for a year, but may start to eat grasses as soon as a week after birth.
- Besides wolves and humans, the only natural predators of muskoxen are the grizzly (brown) bear and polar bear.
- Muskoxen are native to the Arctic areas of Canada, Greenland, and Alaska.
- These mammals have a short life span. They do not live more than 20-25 years in the wild.
- Musk oxen eat a variety of plants as they are herbivores. They graze on leafy plants, shrubs, herbs, arctic flowers, moss, grass, sedges, willow leaves, etc.
- The muskox and the caribou are the only two hoofed mammals, or ungulates, that survived the end of the Pleistocene Era, 10,000 years ago.
