A shaggy, heavy-horned Arctic hoofed mammal, closer to sheep and goats than to oxen, named for the musky smell of males in the rut. It lives in herds on the tundra of Greenland, Arctic Canada and Alaska, and has been reintroduced to Siberia and Norway.
Quick answers
What is it?Mammal
Carnivore?No, herbivore
Dangerous?Can be
Usually not aggressive, but it has killed people who came too close, including in Norway in 1964 and Alaska in 2022.
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Day & night
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?In places
Rarely farmed for meat; the muskox farms in Alaska raise it mainly for its wool.
At a glance
Found inArctic, North America, Europe, Asia
HabitatPolar, Grassland
ColoursBrown, Black
SizeHuge
LengthMales 200–250 cm; females 135–200 cm
Height1.1–1.5 m at the shoulder
WeightUsually 180–410 kg; about 285 kg on average
Legs4
Covered inWool
Lives inherds
Lives for12–20 years
Can swim
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Greenland, Arctic Canada and Alaska; reintroduced to Siberia, and introduced to Norway, from where some spread to Sweden.
- What it eats
- Grasses, Arctic willows, woody plants, lichens and mosses.
- Conservation
- Least Concern (IUCN Red List)
Did you know
Forms a defensive ring around its calves, and its soft underwool, qiviut, is prized for its warmth.
It can reach 60 km/h (37 mph) despite its bulk.
Muskoxen died out in Siberia around 2,700 years ago, probably through human hunting, and were brought back from North America in 1974.
Often confused with
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