Bering Land Bridge National Preserve

Muskox on the Seward Peninsula



Wild Musk Ox in Alaska

A Progress Report
Where do muskox fit in?

A Progress Report

A little-known conservation success story is unfolding in western Alaska where the muskox is reclaiming some of the ranges it inhabited over a century ago. Muskoxen disappeared from their last remaining strongholds in northern Alaska during the late 1800's. Hunting by humans contributed to their decline.

In 1930, the U.S. Congress provided funds to ship 34 muskoxen from Greenland to Alaska. From the first herd established on Nunivak Island, 71 animals were transplanted to the Seward Peninsula, during 1970 and 1981. So far, people have not hunted the reintroduced muskoxen, allowing them to increase at a rate of 15-20% annually. This rate slowed during the harsh winters of 1989-1991. In April of 1992 the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service jointly conducted an aerial survey and found 706 muskox on the Seward Peninsula. If present rate of increase continues, this population could double in six years. However, in other places where muskoxen live, such as the Canadian High Arctic, the North Slope of Alaska, and Greenland, muskox populations usually "level off," and do not expand to form vast herds like caribou.

Muskoxen have also moved into new locations on the Seward Peninsula, distant from the transplant sites. Wide geographical distribution affords protection of the species from locally devastating events, such as winters with severe icing, deep snow, or disease.

Where do muskox fit in?

Little is known about the habitat requirements of muskoxen on the Seward Peninsula. In other places where they have been studied, areas with shallow or windblown snow are very important in the winter. Muskoxen tend not to travel much in winter, as their short legs and compact bodies are not well-adapted for moving through deep snow. Thus their ' initial selection of a wintering area is more critical than for the more mobile caribou or reindeer. Tradition plays an important role in the selection of wintering areas. Bachelor bulls often "pioneer" new wintering areas before they are occupied by cows and calves.

Muskoxen have relatively long lifespans: 25-30 years in captivity, and adults have low natural mortality when winters are not too severe. Their defense strategy of forming a line or circle usually allows them to stand off attacks by bears and wolves. Their main food consists of grasses, sedges, and low-growing willows. Average herd size in the winter is about 20 animals. Bulls compete with each other for harems of cows during the mating season in September, and calves are boom in late April or May. Twins are extremely rare.

Will muskoxen compete with reindeer for food? There is some debate on this question. Scientists do not think so because muskoxen and reindeer/caribou have different physical and behavioral adaptations to life in the Arctic. Muskoxen can digest poorer quality food than reindeer/caribou, and do not appear to select areas for lichens, although they may eat some occasionally. In other places where reindeer and muskox coexist, competition for food seems to be important only if the two species are confined together in a small area at very high densities, such as on an island. Many local reindeer herders have a different opinion, and believe that muskoxen eat and trample vegetation needed by their reindeer.

In Cooperation with:
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
Bering Straits Native Corporation
Bureau of Land Management - Kobuk District
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URL: http://www.nps.gov/bela/html/moremusk.htm
Last Updated: 22 December, 1995