The scientific name for a Musk Ox is "Ovibos moschatus" and the Inuit name is "Oomingmak." They live in Canada, Greenland, Alaska, Norway and Siberia. The Musk Ox do not migrate. They are the only large mammals that can live all year through in one place. They stand together for warmth. The Musk Ox has been alive for 20,000 years. Since they were killed in the 1950's for hides and meat they are rare. It is now against the law for people to shoot a Musk Ox. They can live 12 to 20 years in the wild.
Life Cycle
The Musk Ox has one baby in May. The babies are born in the tundra. The baby is under the mother for 4 months. Eight months after birth that the baby is full grown. The baby looks like a Musk Ox just smaller and has no horns.
The Musk Ox are the vegetarian type. They eat grasses and dwarf willows and eat dead and frozen Plants. To find food in the summer is easy but in winter all they can get is lichen, mosses and frozen plants. Usually they do not move but to get food. That is not all about eating. Wolfs eat Musk Ox so they have camouflage to aid them. But, when they get spotted, they give off a warning scent and the bulls form a semicircle. The calves stay under the belly of the bulls. The bulls buck and kick the enemy and if a wolf gets its teeth locked into its side it kills the wolf by turning on its side to squish it.
The Musk Ox is a shaggy - brown haired- broud shouldered - small cow. But really it is not a small cow, just the size of one. It weighs up to 1,000 pounds but the calf (baby) only weighs 20 pounds. The bull (male) is five feet tall and has horns. It has two coats of hair, the under hair is called "qiviut" and they have hair for shelter. Where they lie down the snow does not melt. They are related to sheep and goats.
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The Wild Ones
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