Musk Ox are the largest Arctic land mammal and weigh somewhere between 800 and 900 pounds. Male Musk Ox can be up to 7 1/2 feet long. Musk Ox are 4 1/2 feet tall at their shoulders, which is their highest point/ Musk Oxen look much shorter than they are because they slouch and don't stand- up straight. Musk Ox have a bone armor plated skull that protects their forehead. Both males and females have horns.
The Musk Ox is a vegetarian. They eat lichen, grass and some flowers. They chew cud and a cud is when they regurgitate food to chew it again. Everything they eat goes to good use in their body. Newborn calves can eat plants in a week. Although they feed on their mothers milk until they're a years old. Their favorite food is dwarf willow trees.
Life Cycle and Reproduction
Musk Ox live on the Arctic tundra all year round and do not hibernate. They
live in herds. When a herd is in danger it will stand together in a circle. Males
fight for females continually. Males fight so viciously that 10% of the males
die from this each year.
They're mating season is in summer. The babies are born in May. There is one young after a pregnancy of 8 months.
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