View source for Muskox

{{Short description|Arctic land mammal}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Speciesbox
| name               = Muskox
| fossil_range       = {{Fossil range|0.2|0}}<small>[[Middle Pleistocene]] – Holocene</small>
| image              = Muskox (Ovibos moschatus) male Dovrefjell 4.jpg
| image_caption      = in Dovrefjell National park, Norway
| status             = LC
| status_system      = IUCN3.1
| status_ref         =<ref name="iucn">{{cite iucn |author=Gunn, A. |author2=Forchhammer, M. |year=2022 |title=''Ovibos moschatus'' |volume=2022 |page=e.T29684A22149286 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T29684A22149286.en |access-date=19 December 2024}}</ref>
| status2 = G5
| status2_system = TNC
| status2_ref = <ref name="NatureServe">{{cite web|title=''Ovibos moschatus'' |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102769/Ovibos_moschatus|website=[[NatureServe]] Explorer|access-date=17 April 2024}}</ref>
| taxon              = Ovibos moschatus
| parent_authority   = [[Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville|Blainville]], 1816<ref>{{cite journal |last1=de Blainville |first1=M. H. |title=Sur plusieurs espèces d'animaux mammifères, de l'ordre des ruminans |journal=Bulletin des Sciences Par la Société Philomathique de Paris |volume=1816 |date=1816 |page=76 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4153495 |quote=g. XI. ''Ovibos''}}</ref>
| authority          = ([[Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann|Zimmermann]], 1780)
| display_parents    = 2
| range_map          = Muskox distribution combined.png
| range_map_caption  = Range map: blue indicates areas where muskox reintroduction has been attempted in the 20th century; red indicates the previous established range.
| synonyms=Generic:
{{genus list|Bosovis|Kowarzik, 1911<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kowarzik |first1=K. |title=Das Tränenbein von ''Ovibos moschatus'' Blainv. |journal=Zoologischer Anzeiger |date=1911 |volume=37 |pages=106–107 |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/9742465}}</ref>}}
Specific:
{{species list|Bos moschatus|Zimmermann, 1780<ref name="Zimmermann1780">{{cite book |last=Zimmermann |first=E.A.W. |title=Enthält ein vollständiges Verzeichnis aller bekannten Quadrupeden |series=Geographische Geschichte des Menschen, und der allgemein verbreiteten vierfüssigen Thiere |volume=2 |year=1780 |publisher=Weygandschen Buchhandlung |location=Leipzig |pages=86–88 |chapter=Der Muskusochse |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VcsOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA86}}</ref>
| Bosovis moschatus|(Zimmermann, 1780) Kowarzik, 1911
| Ovibos pallantis|Hamilton-Smith, 1827<ref>Raufuss, I., & von Koenigswald, W. (1999). New remains of Pleistocene Ovibos moschatus from Germany and its geographic and stratigraphic occurrence in Europe. ''Geologie en Mijnbouw'', 78(3), 383-394.</ref>
}}
| synonyms_ref=<ref name="Lent 1988" />
}}

The '''muskox''' ('''''Ovibos moschatus'''''){{efn|in Latin "musky sheep-ox"}}{{efn|also spelled '''musk ox''' and '''musk-ox''', plural '''muskoxen''' or '''musk oxen''' (in {{langx|iu|ᐅᒥᖕᒪᒃ|translit=umingmak}}; in {{langx|cwd|ᒫᖨᒨᐢ|translit=mâthi-môs}}, {{langx|cwd|ᒫᖨᒧᐢᑐᐢ|translit=mâthi-mostos|label=none}})}} is a [[Ungulate|hoofed mammal]] of the family [[Bovidae]].<ref name="MSW3">{{MSW3 Artiodactyla | id = 14200813 | page = 707}}</ref> Native to the [[Arctic]], it is noted for its thick coat and for the strong odor emitted by males during the [[Rut (mammalian reproduction)|seasonal rut]], from which its name derives. This [[musk]]y odor has the effect of attracting females during [[Seasonal breeder|mating season]]. Its [[Inuktitut]] name "umingmak" translates to "the bearded one".<ref name="Flood1989">{{cite journal |last1=Flood |first1=P. F. |last2=Abrams |first2=S. R. |last3=Muir |first3=G. D. |last4=Rowell |first4=J. E. |title=Odor of the muskox |journal=[[Journal of Chemical Ecology]] | volume=15 |issue=8 |pages=2207–2217 |date=August 1989 |doi=10.1007/bf01014110 |pmid=24272381 |bibcode=1989JCEco..15.2207F |s2cid=8453835}}</ref>

Its [[Woods Cree]] names "mâthi-môs" and "mâthi-mostos" translate to "ugly moose" and "ugly bison", respectively.<ref name="Houston2003">{{cite book |last1=Houston |first1=Clarence Stuart |last2=Houston |first2=Stuart |last3=Ball |first3=Tim |last4=Houston |first4=Mary |date=October 2003 |title=Eighteenth-Century Naturalists of Hudson Bay |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP |page=241 |isbn=978-0-7735-2285-5}}</ref> In historic times, muskoxen primarily lived in [[Greenland]] and the [[Northern Canada|Canadian Arctic]] of the [[Northwest Territories]] and [[Nunavut]].<ref>[http://www.greenland-guide.gl/animal_life.htm Animal Life in Greenland – an introduction by the tourist board] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427231950/http://www.greenland-guide.gl/animal_life.htm |date=2012-04-27 }}. Greenland-guide.gl. Retrieved on 2011-09-15.</ref> They were formerly present in [[Eurasia]], with their youngest natural records in the region dating to around 2,700 years ago,<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Markova |first1=A.K. |last2=Puzachenko |first2=A.Yu. |last3=van Kolfschoten |first3=T. |last4=Kosintsev |first4=P.A. |last5=Kuznetsova |first5=T.V. |last6=Tikhonov |first6=A.N. |last7=Bachura |first7=O.P. |last8=Ponomarev |first8=D.V. |last9=van der Plicht |first9=J. |last10=Kuitems |first10=M. |date=August 2015 |title=Changes in the Eurasian distribution of the musk ox (''Ovibos moschatus'') and the extinct bison (''Bison priscus'') during the last 50 ka BP |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618215000427 |journal=Quaternary International |language=en |volume=378 |pages=99–110 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2015.01.020|bibcode=2015QuInt.378...99M |s2cid=140156564 }}</ref> with reintroduced populations in the [[U.S. state|American state]] of [[Alaska]], the [[Provinces and territories of Canada|Canadian territory]] of [[Yukon]], and [[Siberia]], and an introduced population in [[Norway]], part of which emigrated to [[Sweden]], where a small population now lives.

== Evolution ==

=== Extant relatives ===

The muskox is in the subtribe [[Ovibovina]] (or tribe Ovibovini) in the tribe [[Caprinae|Caprini]] (or subfamily Caprinae) of the subfamily [[Antilopinae]] in the family Bovidae. It is therefore more closely related to [[Domestic sheep|sheep]] and [[goat]]s than to [[ox]]en; it is placed in its own genus, ''Ovibos'' ([[Latin]]: "sheep-ox"). It is one of the two largest [[extant taxon|extant]] members of the caprines, along with the similarly sized [[Takin|Takin ''Budorcas'']].<ref name="Burnie">{{cite book|editor=Burnie D |editor2= Wilson DE |title= Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife|publisher= DK Adult |year=2005 |isbn=0-7894-7764-5}}</ref> While the takin and muskox were once considered possibly closely related, the takin lacks common ovibovine features, such as the muskox's specialized horn morphology, and genetic analysis shows that their lineages actually separated early in caprine evolution. Instead, the muskox's closest living relatives appear to be the [[goral]]s of the genus ''[[Naemorhedus]]'', nowadays common in many countries of central and east Asia. The vague similarity between takin and muskox is therefore an example of [[convergent evolution]].<ref name="Lent1999">{{cite book |first=Peter C. |last=Lent |title=Muskoxen and Their Hunters: A History |url={{GBurl |id=KE2z-QFjj8kC}}|access-date= 2013-08-25|year= 1999|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=0-8061-3170-5}}</ref>

=== Fossil history and extinct relatives ===
[[File:Preptoceras sinclairi.jpg|thumb|''[[Euceratherium]]'' skeleton (missing its ribs)]]
The modern muskox is the last member of a line of ovibovines that first evolved in temperate regions of Asia and adapted to a cold [[tundra]] environment late in its evolutionary history. Muskox ancestors with sheep-like high-positioned horns (horn cores being mostly over the plane of the [[frontal bone]]s, rather than below them as in modern muskoxen) first left the temperate forests for the developing grasslands of [[Central Asia]] during the [[Pliocene]], expanding into [[Siberia]] and the rest of northern [[Eurasia]]. Later migration waves of Asian ungulates that included high-horned muskoxen reached [[Europe]] and [[North America]] during the first half of the [[Pleistocene]]. The first well known muskox, the "shrub-ox" ''[[Euceratherium]]'', crossed to North America over an early version of the [[Bering Land Bridge]] two million years ago and prospered in the [[American southwest]] and [[Mexico]]. ''Euceratherium'' was larger yet more lightly built than modern muskoxen, resembling a giant sheep with massive horns, and preferred hilly grasslands.

A genus with intermediate horns, ''[[Soergelia]]'', inhabited Eurasia in the early Pleistocene, from [[Spain]] to Siberia, and crossed to North America during the [[Irvingtonian]] (1.8&nbsp;million years to 240,000 years ago), soon after ''Euceratherium''. Unlike ''Euceratherium'', which survived in America until the Pleistocene-[[Holocene]] [[Quaternary extinction event|extinction event]], ''Soergelia'' was a lowland dweller which disappeared fairly early, displaced by more advanced ungulates, such as the "giant muskox" ''[[Praeovibos priscus|Praeovibos]]'' (literally "before ''Ovibos''"). The low-horned ''Praeovibos'' was present in Europe and the [[Mediterranean]] 1.5&nbsp;million years ago, colonized [[Alaska]] and the [[Yukon]] one million years ago and disappeared half a million years ago. ''Praeovibos'' was a highly adaptable animal apparently associated with cold tundra ([[reindeer]]) and temperate woodland ([[red deer]]) faunas alike. During the [[Mindel glaciation]] 500,000 years ago, ''Praeovibos'' was present in the [[Kolyma river]] area in eastern Siberia in association with many [[Last Glacial Period|Ice Age]] [[megafauna]] that would later coexist with ''Ovibos'', in the Kolyma itself and elsewhere, including [[wild horse]]s, reindeer, [[woolly mammoth]] and [[Cervalces|stag-moose]]. It is debated, however, if ''Praeovibos'' was directly ancestral to ''Ovibos'', or both genera descended from a common ancestor, since the two occurred together during the middle Pleistocene. Defenders of ancestry from ''Praeovibos'' have proposed that ''Praeovibos'' evolved into ''Ovibos'' in one region during a period of isolation and expanded later, replacing the remaining populations of ''Praeovibos''.<ref name="Lent1999" />

Two more ''Praeovibos''-like genera were named in America in the 19th century, ''[[Bootherium]]'' and ''Symbos'', which are now identified as the male and female forms of a single, [[sexual dimorphism|sexually dimorphic]] species, the "woodland muskox", ''Bootherium bombifrons''. ''Bootherium'' inhabited open woodland areas of North America during the late Pleistocene, from Alaska to [[Texas]] and maybe even Mexico, but was most common in the [[Southern United States]], while ''Ovibos'' replaced it in the tundra-steppe to the north, immediately south of the [[Laurentian ice sheet]].<ref name="Lent1999" /><ref name="Wisconsinan Mammalian Faunas">{{cite web |url=http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/Bulletins/GB5/Martin2/ |title=KGS--Guidebook 5--Wisconsinan Mammalian Faunas |work=ku.edu}}</ref>

Modern ''Ovibos'' appeared in [[Germany]] almost one million years ago and was common in the region through the Pleistocene. By the Mindel, muskoxen had also reached the [[British Isles]]. Both Germany and Britain were just south of the [[Scandinavian ice sheet]] and covered in tundra during cold periods, but Pleistocene muskoxen are also rarely recorded in more benign and wooded areas to the south like [[France]] and [[Green Spain]], where they coexisted with temperate ungulates like [[red deer]] and [[aurochs]]. Likewise, the muskox is known to have survived in Britain during warm [[interglacial]] periods.<ref name="Lent1999" />

Today's muskoxen are descended from others believed to have migrated from [[Siberia]] to [[North America]] between 200,000<ref name="WMAC">{{cite web|url=http://www.taiga.net/wmac/species/muskox/factsheet1_history.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041101113210/http://www.taiga.net/wmac/species/muskox/factsheet1_history.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=2004-11-01 |title=Wildlife Management Advisory Council (North Slope) fact sheet|website= taiga.net}}</ref> and 90,000 years ago,<ref name="HWW">{{cite web |url=http://www.hww.ca/en/species/mammals/muskox.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130425074844/http://www.hww.ca/en/species/mammals/muskox.html |url-status=dead |title=Hinterland Who's Who |archive-date=April 25, 2013}}</ref> having previously occupied Alaska (at the time united to Siberia and isolated periodically from the rest of North America by the union of the Laurentide and [[Cordilleran Ice Sheet]]s during colder periods) between 250,000 and 150,000 years ago. After migrating south during one of the warmer periods of the [[Illinoian (stage)|Illinoian glaciation]], non-Alaskan American muskoxen would be isolated from the rest in the colder periods. The muskox was already present in its current stronghold of [[Banks Island]] 34,000 years ago, but the existence of other ice-free areas in the [[Canadian Arctic Archipelago]] at the time is disputed.<ref name="Lent1999" />

Along with the [[American bison|bison]] and the [[pronghorn]],<ref name="smithsonian">{{cite web|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|series= North American Mammals|url=http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=7 |title=Pronghorn ''Antilocapra americana''}}</ref> the muskox was one of a few species of [[Pleistocene megafauna]] in North America to survive the Pleistocene/[[Holocene]] [[Quaternary extinction event|extinction event]] and live to the present day.<ref name="Switek">{{cite web|author=Switek, Brian|url=http://scienceblogs.com/laelaps/2010/03/10/of-all-the-mass-extinctions/ |title=Prehistoric DNA Reveals the Story of a Pleistocene Survivor, the Muskox|editor=''Laelaps'' blog |website=scienceblogs.com |date=10 March 2010 |access-date= 18 January 2013}}</ref> The muskox is thought to have been able to survive the [[last glacial period]] by finding ice-free areas ([[Refugium (population biology)|refugia]]) away from prehistoric peoples.<ref name="HWW" />

Fossil DNA evidence suggests that muskoxen were not only more geographically widespread during the Pleistocene, but also more [[genetic diversity|genetically diverse]].<ref name="SD">{{cite web |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051006085912.htm |title=Muskox Suffered Loss Of Genetic Diversity at Pleistocene/Holocene Transition |publisher=Science Daily |date=2005-10-06 |access-date=2011-03-03}}</ref> During that time, other populations of muskoxen lived across the Arctic, from the [[Ural Mountains]] to Greenland. By contrast, the current genetic makeup of the species is more homogenous. Climate fluctuation may have affected this shift in genetic diversity: research indicates colder periods in Earth's history are correlated with more diversity, and warmer periods with more homogeneity.<ref name="Switek" /> Muskox populations survived into the Holocene in Siberia, with their youngest records in the region being from the [[Taymyr Peninsula]], dating to around 2,700 years ago (~700 BC).<ref name=":1" />

== Physical characteristics ==
[[File:Muskox (Ovibos moschatus) male Dovrefjell 3.jpg|thumb]]
Both male and female muskoxen have long, curved [[Horn (anatomy)|horns]]. Muskoxen stand {{cvt|1.1|to|1.5|m|ftin}} high at [[withers]], with females measuring {{cvt|135|to|200|cm|ftin}} in length, and the larger males {{cvt|200|to|250|cm|ftin}}. The small tail, often concealed under a layer of fur, measures only {{cvt|10|cm}} long. Adults, on average, weigh {{cvt|285|kg}}, but can range from {{cvt|180|to|410|kg}}.<ref name="Burnie" /><ref name="ellis">{{cite web |url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Ovibos_moschatus.html |title=Ellis, E. ''Ovibos moschatus'' |publisher=Animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu |access-date=2011-03-03}}</ref> The thick coat and large head suggest a larger animal than the muskox truly is; the bison, to which the muskox is often compared, can weigh up to twice as much.<ref>[http://www.arkive.org/muskox/ovibos-moschatus/ Muskox videos, photos and facts – Ovibos moschatus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825021821/http://www.arkive.org/muskox/ovibos-moschatus/ |date=2012-08-25 }}. ARKive. Retrieved on 2012-08-23.</ref> However, heavy zoo-kept specimens have weighed up to {{cvt|650|kg}}.<ref name="Lent 1988">{{cite journal |journal=Mammalian Species |url=http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-302-01-0001.pdf |title=''Ovibos moschatus'' |volume=302 |issue=1–9 |year=1988 |author=Lent, Peter C |pages=1–9 |doi=10.2307/3504280 |jstor=3504280 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520210223/http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-302-01-0001.pdf |archive-date=2013-05-20}}</ref> Their coat, a mix of black, gray and brown, includes long [[guard hair]]s that almost reach the ground. Rare "white muskoxen" have been spotted in the [[Queen Maud Gulf Bird Sanctuary]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thelon.com/geese.htm |title=Search for the Legendary White Musk-ox |publisher=Thelon.com |date=2010-08-06 |access-date=2011-03-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717011938/http://www.thelon.com/geese.htm |archive-date=2011-07-17}}</ref> Muskoxen are occasionally semi-domesticated for wool, and rarely for meat and milk. The U.S. state of [[Alaska]] has several muskoxen farms specifically aimed at wool harvesting.<ref name="AK_Game">{{cite web |url=https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=muskox.uses |title=Muskox Uses |publisher=Alaska Department of Fish and Game |access-date=2017-02-01}}</ref><ref name="Wilkinson1974">{{Cite journal |last=Wilkinson |first=Paul F. |date=1974 |title=The history of musk-ox domestication |journal=Polar Record |volume=17 |issue=106 |pages=13–22 |doi=10.1017/S0032247400031302 |bibcode=1974PoRec..17...13W |s2cid=131125814}}</ref> The [[wool]], called ''[[qiviut]]'', is highly prized for its softness, length, and insulation value. Prices for yarn range between {{cvt|40|and|80|$/oz|$/g|round=0.5|order=flip}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.qiviut.com/store/index.cfm?target=Fiber%20/%20Yarn |title=The Qiviut Fiber and Yarn |publisher=Qiviut.com |access-date=2011-03-03}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060712104513/http://www.uaf.edu/lars/qiviut.html Large Animal Research Station].uaf.edu. Retrieved on 2012-08-23.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100214033207/http://www.alaskabeadstore.com/Qiviut.html Muskox Wool – Qiviut (Kiv-ee-oot)]. alaskabeadstore.com. Retrieved on 2012-08-23.</ref>

A muskox can reach speeds of up to {{cvt|60|km/h|mph|abbr=on|lk=in}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.moskussafari.no/en/musk_ox.htm |title=Muskox |work=moskussafari.no |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029200336/http://www.moskussafari.no/en/musk_ox.htm |archive-date=2013-10-29}}</ref> Their life expectancy is between 12 and 20 years.

== Range ==
[[File:Ovibos moschatus (fossil musk ox skull) (prehistoric; Siberia.jpg|thumb|Fossil ''Ovibos moschatus'' skull from prehistoric Siberia]]

=== Prehistory ===
During the [[Pleistocene]] period, muskoxen were much more widespread. Fossil evidence shows that they lived across the Siberian and North American Arctic, from the [[Urals]] to [[Greenland]].<ref name="Switek" /> The ancestors of today's muskoxen came across the [[Bering Land Bridge]] to North America between 200,000<ref name="WMAC" /> and 90,000 years ago.<ref name="HWW" /> During the [[Wisconsinan]], modern muskox thrived in the [[tundra]] south of the [[Laurentide Ice Sheet]], in what is now the [[Midwest]], the [[Appalachians]] and [[Virginia]], while distant relatives ''[[Bootherium]]'' and ''[[Euceratherium]]'' lived in the forests of the [[Southern United States]] and the western shrubland, respectively.<ref name="Wisconsinan Mammalian Faunas" /> Though they were always less common than other Ice Age megafauna, muskox abundance peaked during the [[Würm II glaciation]] 20,000 years ago and declined afterwards, especially during the [[Pleistocene]]/[[Holocene]] [[Quaternary extinction event|extinction event]], where its range was greatly reduced and only the populations in North America survived. The last known muskox population in Europe died out in [[Sweden]] 9,000 years ago.<ref name="Lent1999" /> In Asia, muskox persisted until just 615-555 BC in [[Tumat]], [[Sakha Republic]].<ref name="Plasteeva">Plasteeva, N. A., Gasilin, V. V., Devjashin, M. M., & Kosintsev, P. A. (2020). Holocene Distribution and Extinction of Ungulates in Northern Eurasia. ''Biology Bulletin'', 47(8), 981-995.</ref>{{failed verification|date=August 2023}}

Following the disappearance of the [[Laurentide Ice Sheet]], the muskox gradually moved north across the [[Canadian Arctic Archipelago]], arriving in [[Greenland]] from [[Ellesmere Island]] at about 350 AD, during the late [[Holocene]]. Their arrival in northwestern Greenland probably occurred within a few hundred years of the arrival of the [[Dorset people|Dorset]] and [[Thule people|Thule]] cultures in the present-day [[Qaanaaq]] area. Human predation around Qaanaaq may have restricted muskoxen from moving down the west coast, and instead kept them confined to the northeastern fringes of the island.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1017/S0032247404004127 |title=New dates of musk-ox (''Ovibos moschatus'') remains from northwest Greenland |year=2005 |last1=Bennike |first1=Ole |last2=Andreasen |first2=Claus |journal=Polar Record |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=125–129 |bibcode=2005PoRec..41..125B |s2cid=128814689}}</ref>

=== Recent native range in North America ===
[[File:Muskoxen with mountains and rainbow sky in the distance.jpg|thumb|Muskox at [[Cape Krusenstern National Monument]], Alaska]]
[[File:Greenland-musk-ox hg.jpg|thumb|Muskox family in east [[Greenland]]]]
In modern times, muskoxen were restricted to the Arctic areas of Northern Canada, Greenland, and Alaska. The [[Alaska]]n population was wiped out in the late 19th or early 20th century. Their depletion has been attributed to excessive hunting, but an adverse change in climate may have contributed.<ref name="AK_Muskox">{{cite web |first1=T. |last1=Smith |first2=J. |last2=Coady |first3=R. |last3=Kacyon |title=Muskox |year=2008 |url=http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/biggame/muskoxen.php |publisher=Alaska Department of Fish and Game |access-date=2017-02-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091001122830/http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/biggame/muskoxen.php |archive-date=2009-10-01 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://home.nps.gov/gaar/learn/nature/muskox-the-incredible-journey.htm |title=The Incredible Journey |publisher=Nps.gov |date=2010-12-28 |access-date=2011-03-03}}</ref> However, muskoxen have since been [[Reintroduction|reintroduced]] to Alaska. The [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] introduced the muskox onto [[Nunivak Island]] in 1935 to support [[Hunter-gatherer|subsistence]] living.<ref name="FWS" /> Other reintroduced populations are in [[Arctic National Wildlife Refuge]],<ref>https://www.fws.org/refuge/arctic/muskox.html{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> [[Bering Land Bridge National Preserve]], [[Yukon]]'s [[Ivvavik National Park]], a [[Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center|wildlife conservation center]] in [[Anchorage, Alaska|Anchorage]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alaskawildlife.org/animals/musk-ox/ |title=Musk Ox – AWCC |access-date=11 October 2017 |archive-date=6 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306155428/https://www.alaskawildlife.org/animals/musk-ox/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Aulavik National Park]] in [[Northwest Territories]], [[Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge]], [[Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve|Gates of the Arctic National Park]], and [[Whitehorse, Yukon]]'s wildlife preserve.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yukonwildlife.ca/animalshabitats/ouranimals/muskoxen/ |title=Yukon Wildlife Preserve. |website=www.yukonwildlife.ca}}</ref>

There have been at least two domestication endeavours. In the 1950s, an American researcher and adventurer was able to capture muskox calves in Northern Canada for relocation to a property he prepared in Vermont.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uwcc.wisc.edu/info/farmer/pre2001/030400k1.html |title=University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives – Fingers and needles: Alaskan co-op turns cashmere-soft musk ox wool into hard cash |access-date=26 July 2007 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303191317/http://www.uwcc.wisc.edu/info/farmer/pre2001/030400k1.html |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>https://canadashistory.partica.online/canadas-history/the-beaver-summer-1964/flipbook/42/ {{dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Wild Animals of North America |author=National Geographic Society |date=1960 |page=105}}</ref> One condition imposed by the Canadian government was that he was not allowed to kill adults defending their young.  When nets and ropes proved useless, he and his crew herded family groups into open water, where calves were successfully separated from the adults.  Once airfreighted to Montreal and trucked to Vermont, the young animals habituated to the temperate conditions.  Although the calves thrived and grew to adulthood, parasite and disease resistance problems impaired the overall success of the effort.  The surviving herd was eventually moved to a farm in [[Palmer, Alaska]], where it has been successful since the mid-1950s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.muskoxfarm.org/ |title=Musk Ox Farm-Gently Hand-Combed Qiviut |website=Musk Ox Farm-Gently Hand-Combed Qiviut}}</ref>

=== Reintroductions in Eurasia ===
[[File:Muskox (Ovibos moschatus) male Dovrefjell 6.jpg|thumb|Male in [[Dovrefjell–Sunndalsfjella National Park]], Norway]]

In 1913, workers building a railway over [[Dovrefjell]] found two fossil muskox vertebrae. This led to the idea of introducing muskoxen to Norway from Greenland. The first release in the world was made on [[Gurskøya]], near [[Ålesund]], in 1925–26. They were muskoxen caught by Norwegian seal-hunting boats in Greenland. The animals colonized the island, but eventually died out there. An attempt to introduce the muskox to [[Svalbard]] also failed. Seventeen animals were released in 1929 by [[Adventfjorden]] on [[West Spitsbergen]]. In 1940, the herd numbered 50, but in the 1970s, the whole herd disappeared. In September 1932, polar researcher [[Adolf Hoel]] conducted another experiment, importing 10 muskoxen to Dovrefjell. This herd survived until [[World War II]], when they were hunted and exterminated. In 1947 and later, new animals were released. A small group of muskoxen from Dovrefjell migrated across the national border to Sweden in 1971 and established themselves in [[Härjedalen]], whereby a Swedish herd was established.{{citationneeded|date=October 2024}}

The Norwegian population on Dovrefjell is managed over an area of {{cvt|340|km2|sqmi}} and in the summer of 2012 consisted of approximately 300 animals. Since 1999, the population has mostly been increasing, but it suffered a measles outbreak in the summer of 2004 that killed 29. Some animals are also occasionally killed as a result of train collisions on the [[Dovre Railway]]. The population is divided into flocks in the {{ill|Nystuguhø|no|Nystugguhøa}} area, {{ill|Kolla (Norway)|lt=Kolla|no}} area and [[Hjerkinn]]. In the summer they move down towards [[Driva]], where there are lush grass pastures.

Although the muskox belongs to the dry Arctic grassland, it seems to do well on Dovrefjell. However, the pastures are marginal, with little grass available in winter (the muskox eats only plants, not lichen as reindeer do), and over time, [[inbreeding]] depression is expected in such a small population which originated from only a few introduced animals.

In addition to the population on Dovrefjell, the [[University of Tromsø]] had some animals on {{ill|Ryøya|de|Ryøy}} outside [[Tromsø]] until 2018.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

Muskoxen were introduced to [[Svalbard]] in 1925–26 and 1929, but this population died out in the 1970s.<ref>Aulagnier, S. et al. (2008) Guide des mammifères d'Europe, d'Afrique du Nord et de Moyen-Orient. Delachaux et Niestlé, Paris</ref> They were also introduced in [[Iceland]] around 1930 but did not survive.<ref>Zabrodin, V.A., and G.D. Yakushkin. [http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/ah759e/AH759E19.htm "Chapter 10: Musk-Oxen."] From ''Animal Genetic Resources of the USSR'', edited by N.G Dmitriev and L.K Ernst. Rome: [[FAO]], 1989.</ref>

In [[Russia]], animals imported from Banks and Nunivak were released in the [[Taymyr Peninsula]] in 1974 and 1975, and some from Nunivak were released in [[Wrangel Island]] in 1975. Both locations are north of the [[Arctic Circle]]. By 2019 the population on Wrangel Island was about 1100,<ref name="muskoxRF">{{cite web |url=http://xn--90abjvq3cwb.xn--p1ai/i-chelovek/gde-v-rossii-mozhno-uvidet-ovcebyka |title=Where in Russia Can You See a Muskox? Overview of the habits and maintenance of muskoxen at the beginning of 2019 |language=ru}}</ref> and the Taymyr Peninsula, about 11,000–14,000.<ref name="автоссылка1">{{cite web |url=http://www.ohotcontrol.ru/documents/publication/2016/%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%20%D0%9F.%D0%9C.%20%D0%B8%20%D0%B4%D1%80.%20-%20%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%B7%D1%83%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8B%20%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F%20%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%86%D0%B5%D0%B1%D1%8B%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%20%D0%B2%20%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B9%20%D0%90%D1%80%D0%BA%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B5%202016.pdf |title=II МЕЖДУНАРОДНАЯ, VII ВСЕРОССИЙСКАЯ НАУЧНО-ПРАКТИЧЕСКАЯ КОНФЕРЕНЦИЯ "СОСТОЯНИЕ СРЕДЫ ОБИТАНИЯ И ФАУНА ОХОТНИЧЬИХ ЖИВОТНЫХ РОССИИ И СОПРЕДЕЛЬНЫХ ТЕРРИТОРИЙ" |language=ru |website=www.ohotcontrol.ru |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209124141/http://www.ohotcontrol.ru/documents/publication/2016/%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%20%D0%9F.%D0%9C.%20%D0%B8%20%D0%B4%D1%80.%20-%20%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%B7%D1%83%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8B%20%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F%20%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%86%D0%B5%D0%B1%D1%8B%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%20%D0%B2%20%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B9%20%D0%90%D1%80%D0%BA%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B5%202016.pdf |archive-date=9 December 2018 |trans-title=All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference "Condition of the Habitat and Fauna Hunting Animals of Russia and Adjacent Territories" |url-status=dead}}</ref> A few muskoxen herds migrated from the Taymyr Peninsula far to the south to the [[Putorana Plateau]].<ref name="muskoxRF" /> Once established, these populations have been, in turn, used as sources for further reintroductions in Siberia between 1996 and 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lhnet.org/reintroduction-of-musk-ox-in-the-northern-russia/ |title=Reintroduction of Musk Ox on the Northern Russia |last=Sipko |first=Taras |website=Large Herbivore Network |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905102942/http://www.lhnet.org/reintroduction-of-musk-ox-in-the-northern-russia/ |archive-date=2015-09-05 |url-status=dead |access-date=2017-12-21}}</ref> One of the last of these actions was the release of six animals within the [[Pleistocene Park]] project area in the [[Kolyma River]] in 2010, where a team of Russian scientists led by [[Sergey Zimov]] aims to prove that muskoxen, along with other [[Pleistocene megafauna]] that survived into the early [[Holocene]] in northern Siberia,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/131/1312936307.pdf |title=The North of Eastern Siberia: Refuge of Mammoth Fauna in Holocene |website=Rhino Resource Center |access-date=2020-04-11}}</ref> did not disappear from the region due to climate change, but because of human hunting.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/05/0517_050517_pleistocene.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050521020536/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/05/0517_050517_pleistocene.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 May 2005 |title=Pleistocene Park Underway: Home for Reborn Mammoths? |work=nationalgeographic.com}}</ref>

=== Introductions in eastern Canada ===
Ancient muskox remains have never been found in [[eastern Canada]], although the ecological conditions in the northern [[Labrador Peninsula]] are suitable for them. In 1967, 14 animals were captured near [[Eureka, Nunavut|Eureka]] on [[Ellesmere Island]] by the Institute for Northern Agricultural Research (INAR) and brought to a farm in Old Fort Chimo [[Kuujjuaq]], northern Quebec, for domestication to provide a local cottage industry based on ''[[qiviut]]'', a fine natural fiber. The animals thrived and the ''qiviut'' industry showed early success with the training of Inuit knitters and marketing, but it soon became clear that the Quebec government had never intended that the muskoxen be domestic, but had used INAR to capture muskoxen to provide a wild population for hunting{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}}. Government officials demanded that INAR leave Quebec and the farm be closed. Subsequently, 54 animals from the farm were released in three places in northern Quebec between 1973 and 1983, and the remaining were ceded to local [[zoo]]s. Between 1983 and 1986, the released animals increased from 148 to 290, at a rate of 25% per year, and by 2003, an estimated 1,400 muskoxen were in Quebec. Additionally, 112 adults and 25 calves were counted in the nearby [[Diana Island]] in 2005, having arrived there by their own means from the mainland. [[Vagrancy (biology)|Vagrant]] adults are sometimes spotted in [[Labrador]], though no herds have been observed in the region.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.canadianfieldnaturalist.ca/index.php/cfn/article/view/398/398 |title=The Occurrence of Muskoxen, Ovibos moschatus in Labrador – Chubbs – The Canadian Field-Naturalist |volume=121 |issue=1 |pages=81–84 |journal=Canadian Field-Naturalist |year=2007 |last1=Brazil |first1=J. |last2=Chubbs |first2=Tony E. |doi=10.22621/cfn.v121i1.398 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

== Ecology ==
During the summer, muskoxen live in wet areas, such as river valleys, moving to higher elevations in the winter to avoid deep snow. Muskoxen will eat grasses, [[arctic willow]]s, woody plants, lichens and mosses. When food is abundant, they prefer succulent and nutritious grasses in an area. Willows are the most commonly eaten plants in the winter. Muskoxen require a high threshold of fat reserves in order to conceive, which reflects their conservative breeding strategy. Winter ranges typically have shallow snow to reduce the energy costs of digging through snow to reach forage.<ref name="iucn" /> The primary predators of muskoxen are [[Arctic wolf|arctic wolves]], which may account for up to half of all mortality for the species. Other occasional predators, likely mainly predators of calves or infirm adults, can include [[grizzly bear]]s and [[polar bear]]s<ref name="Lent 1988" /> and [[wolverine]]s.{{Dubious | date=May 2023 }}{{Citation needed | date=May 2023 }}

== Physiology ==
Muskox are [[Heterothermy|heterothermic]] mammals, meaning they have the ability to shut off thermal regulation in some parts of their body, like their lower limbs.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Brix |first1=O. |last2=Bårdgard |first2=A. |last3=Mathisen |first3=S. |last4=Tyler |first4=N. |last5=Nuutinen |first5=M. |last6=Condo |first6=S. G. |last7=Giardina |first7=B. |date=1990 |title=Oxygen transport in the blood of arctic mammals: adaptation to local heterothermia |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2335593/ |journal=Journal of Comparative Physiology B |volume=159 |issue=6 |pages=655–660 |doi=10.1007/BF00691710 |issn=0174-1578 |pmid=2335593 |s2cid=25028935}}</ref> Maintaining the lower limbs at a cooler temperature than the rest of their body helps reduce the loss of body heat from their extremities. Muskox display the unique characteristic of having [[hemoglobin]] that is three times less temperature sensitive than human hemoglobin.<ref name=":0" /> This temperature insensitivity allows the muskox's hemoglobin to have a heightened oxygen affinity in an extremely cold environment and continue to diffuse high amounts of oxygen into its cold tissues.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brix |first1=O. |last2=Bårdgard |first2=A. |last3=Mathisen |first3=S. |last4=el Sherbini |first4=S. |last5=Condò |first5=S. G. |last6=Giardina |first6=B. |date=1989 |title=Arctic life adaptation--II. The function of musk ox (Ovibos muschatos) hemoglobin |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2598629/ |journal=Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology B |volume=94 |issue=1 |pages=135–138 |doi=10.1016/0305-0491(89)90023-0 |issn=0305-0491 |pmid=2598629}}</ref>

== Social behavior and reproduction ==
[[File:MuskOxen.jpg|thumb|1000px|[[Nunivak Island]], Alaskan muskoxen in the 1930s, shown here in defensive formation]]

Muskoxen live in herds of 12–24 in the winter and 8–20 in the summer when dominant bulls expel other males from the herd.<ref name="Tener 1965">Tener, J. S. (1965). ''Muskoxen in Canada a biological and taxonomic review''. Ottawa: Queen's Printer.</ref> They do not hold territories, but they do mark their trails with [[preorbital gland]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Owen-Smith, N. |year=1977 |title=On Territoriality in Ungulates and an Evolutionary Model |journal=The Quarterly Review of Biology |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=1–38 |doi=10.1086/409720 |s2cid=85113457}}</ref> Male and female muskoxen have separate age-based hierarchies, with mature oxen being dominant over juveniles.<ref name="Tener 1965" /> Dominant oxen tend to get access to the best resources<ref name="Lent 1988" /> and will displace subordinates from patches of grass during the winter.<ref name="Tener 1965" /> Muskox bulls assert their dominance in many different ways. One is a "rush and butt", in which a dominant bull rushes a subordinate from the side with its horns, and will warn the subordinate so it can have a chance to get away.<ref name="Wilkinson 1976">{{cite journal |author=Wilkinson, P. F. |author2=Shank, C. C. |year=1976 |title=Rutting-fight Mortality among Musk Oxen on Banks Island, Northwest Territories, Canada |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=24 |pages=756–758 |doi=10.1016/S0003-3472(76)80004-8 |issue=4 |s2cid=53187116}}</ref> Bulls will also roar, swing their heads, and paw the ground.<ref name="Lent 1988" /> Dominant bulls sometimes treat subordinate bulls like cows. A dominant bull will tap a subordinate with its foreleg, something they do to cows during mating.<ref name="Reinhardt 2005">{{cite journal |author=Reinhardt, V. |year=2005 |title=Courtship behavior among musk-ox males kept in confinement |journal=Zoo Biology |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=295–300 |doi=10.1002/zoo.1430040311}}</ref> Dominant bulls will also mock copulate subordinates and sniff their genitals.<ref name="Reinhardt 2005" /> A subordinate bull can challenge his status by charging a dominant bull.<ref name="Gray 1986">{{cite journal |author=Gray, D. R. |year=1986 |title=Standing his ground: How the muskox survives the rigours of an Arctic winter |journal=Nature Canada |volume=15 |pages=19–26}}</ref>
[[File:Muskus.jpg|thumb|left|Muskox in [[Dovrefjell–Sunndalsfjella National Park|Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park]], [[Norway]]]]
The mating (or "rutting") season of the muskoxen begins in late June or early July. During this time, dominant bulls will fight others out of the herds and establish harems of usually six or seven cows and their offspring. Fighting bulls will first rub their preorbital glands against their legs while bellowing loudly, and then display their horns.<ref name="Gray 1986" /> The bulls then back up about {{cvt|20|m|ft}}, lower their heads, and charge into each other, and will keep doing so until one bull gives up.<ref name="Wilkinson 1976" /> Subordinate and elderly bulls will leave the herds to form bachelor groups or become solitary.<ref name="Lent 1988" /> However, when danger is present, the outside bulls can return to the herd for protection.<ref name="Freeman 1971">{{cite journal |author=Freeman, M. |year=1971 |title=Population Characteristics of Musk-Oxen in the Jones Sound Region of the Northwest Territories |journal=Journal of Wildlife Management |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=103–108 |doi=10.2307/3799877 |jstor=3799877}}</ref> Dominant bulls will prevent cows from leaving their harems.<ref name="Lent 1988" /> During mating, a bull will tap an estrous cow with his foreleg to calm her down and make her more receptive to his advances.<ref name="Reinhardt 2005" /> The herds reassemble when summer ends.<ref name="Freeman 1971" />

While the bulls are more aggressive during the rutting season and lead their groups, the females take charge during gestation.<ref name="Lent 1988" /> Pregnant females are aggressive and decide what distance the herd travels in a day and where they will bed for the night.<ref name="Jingfors 1982">{{cite journal |author=Jingfors, K. |year=1982 |title=Seasonal Activity Budgets and Movements of a Reintroduced Alaskan Muskox Herd |journal=Journal of Wildlife Management |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=344–359 |doi=10.2307/3808645 |jstor=3808645}}</ref> The herds move more often when cows are lactating, to let them get enough food to nurse their offspring.<ref name="Jingfors 1982" /> Cows have an eight- to nine-month gestation period, with calving occurring from April to June. Cows do not calve every year. When winters are severe, cows will not go into estrus and thus not calve the next year. When calving, cows stay in the herd for protection. Muskox are [[precocial]], and calves can keep up with the herd within just a few hours after birth. The calves are welcomed into the herd and nursed for the first two months.<ref name="Lent 1988" /> After that, a calf then begins eating vegetation and nurses only occasionally. Cows communicate with their calves through braying. The calf's bond with its mother weakens after two years.

Muskoxen have a distinctive defensive behavior: when the herd is threatened, the adults will face outward to form a stationary ring or semicircle around the calves.<ref name="Miller 1980">{{cite journal |author=Miller, F. L. |author2=Gunn, A. |year=1980 |title=Behavioral Responses of Musk Ox to Simulation of Cargo Slinging by Helicopter, Northwest Territories |journal=Canadian Field-Naturalist |volume=94 |issue=1 |pages=52–60|doi=10.5962/p.347034 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The bulls are usually the front line for defense against predators, with the cows and juveniles gathering close to them.<ref name="Lent 1988" /> Bulls determine the defensive formation during rutting, while the cows decide the rest of the year.<ref name="Freeman 1971" />

=== Components of glandular secretions ===
[[File:Овцебыки - самые грозные млекопитающие Таймыра.jpg|thumb|Muskox on [[Bolshoy Begichev Island]], Russia]]
The preorbital gland secretion of muskoxen has a "light, sweetish, ethereal" odor.<ref name="Flood1989" /> Analysis of preorbital gland secretion extract showed the presence of [[cholesterol]] (which is nonvolatile), [[benzaldehyde]], a series of straight-chain saturated [[gamma-lactone|γ-lactones]] ranging from C<sub>8</sub>H<sub>14</sub>O<sub>2</sub> to C<sub>12</sub>H<sub>22</sub>O<sub>2</sub> (with C<sub>10</sub>H<sub>18</sub>O<sub>2</sub> being most abundant), and probably the monounsaturated γ-lactone C<sub>12</sub>H<sub>20</sub>O<sub>2</sub>.<ref name="Flood1989" /> The saturated γ-lactone series has an odor similar to that of the secretion.<ref name="Flood1989" />

The odor of dominant rutting males is described as "strong" and "rank".<ref name="Flood1989" /> It derives from the [[preputial gland]] and is [[Self-anointing in animals|distributed over the fur of the abdomen]] via urine. Analysis of extract of washes of the [[Penile sheath|prepuce]] revealed the presence of [[benzoic acid]] and [[P-cresol|''p''-cresol]], along with a series of [[Alkane#Linear alkanes|straight-chain saturated hydrocarbons]] from C<sub>22</sub>H<sub>46</sub> to C<sub>32</sub>H<sub>66</sub> (with C<sub>24</sub>H<sub>50</sub> being most abundant).<ref name="Flood1989" />

=== Danger to humans ===
Muskoxen are not known to be aggressive. Fatal attacks are extremely rare, but humans who have come close and behaved aggressively have occasionally been attacked.<ref>[https://www.gi.alaska.edu/alaska-science-forum/musk-ox-versus-man Musk Ox Versus Man]</ref>

On 22 July 1964, a 73-year-old man was killed in a muskox attack in Norway. The animal was later killed by local authorities.<ref>[https://mynorwegianroots.no/muskox-norwegian-man-killed-in-1964-muskox-attack/ Norwegian man killed in 1964 muskox attack]</ref>

On 13 December 2022, a court services officer with the [[Alaska State Troopers]] was killed by a muskox near [[Nome, Alaska]]. The officer was trying to scare away a group of muskox near a dog kennel at his home when one of the animals attacked him.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-14 |title=Alaska officer killed in muskox attack outside his house |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alaska-officer-killed-muskox-attack-house-rcna61640 |access-date=2023-12-19 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref>

== Conservation status ==
Historically, this species declined because of overhunting, but populations have recovered following enforcement of hunting regulations.<ref name="iucn" /> Management in the late 1900s was mostly conservative hunting quotas to foster recovery and recolonization from the historic declines.<ref name="iucn" /> The current world population of muskoxen is estimated at between 80,000<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alaska.edu/opa/eInfo/index.xml?StoryID=161 |title=Robert G. White Large Animal Research Station, University of Alaska |publisher=Alaska.edu |date=1963-10-12 |access-date=2011-03-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527104508/http://www.alaska.edu/opa/eInfo/index.xml?StoryID=161 |archive-date=2010-05-27}}</ref> and 125,000,<ref name="FWS">{{cite web |url=http://www.fws.gov/species/species_accounts/bio_musk.html |title=Muskox, (Ovibos moschatus) US Fish & Wildlife Service |publisher=Fws.gov |access-date=2011-03-03 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304075636/http://www.fws.gov/species/species_accounts/bio_musk.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> with an estimated 47,000 living on [[Banks Island]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/yt/ivvavik/info/plan/plan5 |title=Annual Report of Research and Monitoring in National Parks of the Western Arctic 2005, Parks Canada |publisher=Pc.gc.ca |date=2005 |access-date=2017-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222105547/https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/yt/ivvavik/info/plan/plan5 |archive-date=2017-12-22 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In Greenland, there are no major threats. However, populations are often small in size and scattered; this makes them vulnerable to local fluctuations in climate. Most populations are within national parks, where they are protected from hunting.<ref name="iucn" /> Muskoxen occur in four of Greenland's protected areas, with indigenous populations in [[Northeast Greenland National Park]] and introduced populations in {{ill|Arnangarnup Qoorua|lt=Arnangarnup Qoorua Nature Reserve|qid=Q108071480|s=1|v=sup}} and [[Kangerlussuaq]] and {{ill|Maniitsoq Caribou Reserve|lt=Maniitsoq Caribou Reserves|qid=121380808|s=1|v=sup}}. In these areas, muskoxen receive full protection.<ref name="iucn" />

Muskoxen are being domesticated for the production of [[qiviut]].

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{wikispecies}}
{{Commons}}
* [http://lars.uaf.edu/animals Robert G. White Large Animal Research Station] at the [[University of Alaska Fairbanks]]
* [http://www.uwcc.wisc.edu/info/farmer/pre2001/030400k1.html Alex Trebek and John Teal's Reintroduction of Muskox to Alaska] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303191317/http://www.uwcc.wisc.edu/info/farmer/pre2001/030400k1.html |date=3 March 2016 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060302143932/http://www.staff.uni-marburg.de/~meyerj/Ms%20Ovibos%20moschatus.pdf Jork Meyer, "Sex ratio in muskox skulls (Ovibos moschatus) found at East Greenland" (Geschlechterverhältnis bei Schädeln des Moschusochsen (Ovibos moschatus) in Ostgrönland)] ''Beiträge zur Jagd- und Wildtierforschung'' 29 (2004): 187–192.
* {{Cite NSRW |wstitle=Musk-Ox |short=x}}
* {{Cite NIE |wstitle=Musk Ox |short=x}}
* [http://muskoxtrail.no/ "The Dovrefjell Musk Ox Trail"] – Dovrefjell Narional Park Board 2018
* [https://archives-manuscripts.dartmouth.edu/repositories/2/resources/1053 The Papers of Frank H. Atkinson] at Dartmouth College Library
* [https://archives-manuscripts.dartmouth.edu/repositories/2/resources/1131 The Papers of John J. Teal] at Dartmouth College Library
* [https://archives-manuscripts.dartmouth.edu/repositories/2/resources/3516 Burges Smith diary concerning Nunivak Island Musk Ox Expedition] at Dartmouth College Library
{{Artiodactyla|R.3}}
{{North American Game}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q184004}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Arctic land animals]]
[[Category:Caprids]]
[[Category:Extant Pleistocene first appearances]]
[[Category:Fauna of the Holarctic realm]]
[[Category:Mammals described in 1780]]
[[Category:Mammals of Canada]]
[[Category:Mammals of Europe]]
[[Category:Mammals of Greenland]]
[[Category:Mammals of the Arctic]]
[[Category:Mammals of the United States]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann]]
[[Category:Wool animals]]
<!-- [[Category:Monotypic animal genera]] moved to genus redirect -->